Academic literature on the topic 'Angelic sin'

This study conducts a literary analysis of the traditions and comments of al-Tabari with regards to Muhammad’s Night Journey and Ascension is undertaken within the context of al-Tabari’s exegesis of Qur’ān, 17:1. The linguistic particularities of the verse reveal notions of divine agency in the Qur’ān of which the Night Journey is one instance; manifesting the hand of God in the life of Muhammad. The hadith traditions therein as presented by al-Tabari are examined both linguistically and thematically. It becomes apparent, in the case of al-Tabari the Night Journey and Ascension of Muhammad marked a key turning point in his status as a Prophet; requiring a fantastical opening of Muhammad’s chest. Motifs of angelic surgery and the removal of “black spots” from the heart of Muhammad shed further light upon the dogmatic debates surrounding the question of infallibility (al-‘ismah) or immunity from sin as an indicator of Muhammad’s Prophethood. Al-Tabari also, presents traditions rich with imaginative apocalyptic and eschatological motifs which infuse the story of Muhammad’s heavenly journey with extra-historical implications. Al-Tabari concludes his exposition with an insistence on the physicality of Muhammad’s ascension, demonstrating the tension between literalism and symbolism in Qur’ānic exegesis and the hadith tradition.

AbstractAnabaptist theologians who vie for the most convincing theory of divine non-violence in the contemporary ‘atonement debate’ quite often fail to appreciate the contributions of medieval scholars such as St Thomas Aquinas. Of course, that failure does have a rationale. Aquinas does, indeed, support various systematic expressions of a satisfaction theory of atonement. In doing so, he insists upon God's violent solution to the problem of sin and also employs language fraught with quid pro quo, mercantile and penal images. Aquinas does attempt to ‘correct’ Anselm and rearticulate the satisfaction theory of atonement; however, his expression of that motif still hinges upon the divine demand for remuneration, balanced accounts or an economic transaction in order to repair the damage done by sin. God's desire for this redemptive reparation results in the necessity of the violent death of an innocent man. Consequently, although Aquinas expresses the notion of necessity differently than Anselm, his theory also necessitates, at best, divine complicity with violence and, at worst, divine insistence on violence. Anabaptist theologians who remain true to the tradition's pacifist roots rightfully cry ‘foul’ in response to Aquinas’ theory. If Jesus of Nazareth fully reveals the character of God as indicated in John 14:7 with the words, ‘if you have seen me, you have seen the Father’, theories of atonement which depict God as condoning or requiring violence do not harmonise with the life and teachings of the man Christians call the Prince of Peace, especially if that violence pertains to the redemption of a loving God's good creation. As a result, those who oppose the implicit divine violence embedded in Aquinas’ satisfaction theory of atonement may opt to disengage with him, to expel him completely from the conversation. Yet I suggest that non-violent atonement theologians pause and rethink their indictment of the angelic doctor. Satisfaction remains the prevalent theme surrounding Aquinas’ atonement motif, but it is not by any means the only image he brings to bear on the topic. In fact, throughout his ruminations on the passion of Christ, St Thomas focuses explicitly on the unfathomable, extravagant and immeasurable divine love as the primary motivation for God's desire and subsequent actions to redeem and restore a sinful humanity. I suggest that, given Aquinas’ emphasis on divine love, Anabaptist theologians may well discover a satisfying interlocutor for further theological conversation which carries significant implications for the life of the church. Indeed, scholastic savants such as Thomas Aquinas still do warrant a place at the communal table.

L’extravagantes delle Revelationes coelestes di Santa Brigida narra l’ascesa al Monte Gargano. Questo testo racconta un episodio della vita di Brigida e invia un preciso messaggio ai lettori, mentre opera su diversi livelli: il simbolico, il narrativo ed il teologico. Pertanto, la descrizione del paesaggio, proposta da Santa Brigida, rappresenta piuttosto un paesaggio dell’anima. L’ambiente è però dipinto con colori foschi e non rimanda alla realtà. L’esposizione culmina nella visione angelica nella grotta di San Michele. Qui gli angeli giustificano il decadimento generale con la corruzione morale delle popolazioni locali. Sicché si può ritenere che la descrizione del paesaggio del Gargano costituisce piuttosto un ammaestramento morale. Un espediente di successo dunque, che trasmette messaggi incisivi.

FINDING OURSELVES AFTER DARWIN: Conversations on the Image of God, Original Sin, and the Problem of Evil by Stanley P. Rosenberg (general editor) and Michael Burdett, Michael Lloyd, and Benno van den Toren (associate editors). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018. vii + 375 pages. Paperback; $34.00. ISBN: 9780801098246. Kindle; $16.99. ISBN: 9781493406586. *Finding Ourselves after Darwin responds to questions of how humanity defines itself and understands its primeval origins in a post-Darwinian world. It does so by offering a representative selection of Christian responses to questions about the image of God, original sin, and the problem of evil raised at the interface of evolutionary science and Christian faith. This book grew out of the project "Evolution and Christian Faith" funded by BioLogos, and many contributors participated in several colloquia held at Oxford. *Finding Ourselves after Darwin is thematically and structurally coherent, unlike many similar edited volumes. Two introductory essays by general editor Stanley Rosenberg and associate editor Benno van den Toren introduce the truth-seeking and dialogue-modeling commitments of the book. Following these essays, the book is divided into three parts: (1) The Image of God and Evolution, (2) Original Sin and Evolution, and (3) Evil and Evolution. Each part features five or six contributors' responses to issues raised in each topic. Associate editors Michel Burdett, Benno van den Toren, and Michael Lloyd each provide introductory and conclusory comments to one of the three parts, in which they identify the part's driving questions and then summarize and interact with the material. *Discussion in part 1, The Image of God and Evolution, centers on the ability of four conventional models of imaging (functional, structural, relational, dynamic) to withstand challenges posed by evolution. Defending the viability of these four models takes precedence over intermittent discussion of human uniqueness, origins, and telos. Wentzel van Huysteen's introductory chapter suggests that evolutionary insights help inform a robust understanding of the human capacity for imaging. According to his "bottom-up" approach, the image of God emerged from nature through evolution; he believes we should take this into account when trying to understand the human person. *Following van Huysteen, Mark Harris shares a version of the functional model of imaging, which locates the imago Dei in humanity's role to be God's representative rulers on the earth. Harris uses scripture well but only marginally engages evolutionary theory since, according to him, it poses few challenges to the functional model of imaging. *Next, Aku Visala offers a strong defense for the structural theory of imaging against challenges raised by evolutionary theory. Structural theories of imaging often locate the image of God in uniquely human cognitive, moral, relational, and religious capacities; therefore, challenges to human uniqueness--such as claims that no clear dividing line exists between humans and animals--appear to threaten the viability of structural models of imaging. However, Visala shows that an appropriately modified version of the structural theory withstands these challenges by requiring no such clear dividing line (instead, humans stand apart from animals in the unique degree to which they actualize certain capacities). Visala also suggests that animals can have nonhuman souls and that animals continue to evolve in their imaging capacity; consequently, the "image of God is as much about becoming as it is about being" (p. 77). Visala advocates for an emergent dualist approach to the soul, one which embraces evolutionary insights into the way our "perceptual, conceptual, and emotional systems work" while maintaining that the soul accounts for certain phenomena evolutionary that explanations cannot account for, such as the existence of the person, human dignity, and life after death (p. 71). *Then Jay Oord presents a relational-love model of imaging in which he suggests that "living a life of love" is the essence of imaging (p. 88) and that God invites nonhuman creatures to bear God's image by imitating God's love. *Finally, Ted Peters offers a dynamic model of imaging in which humans are still evolving into the imago Dei. According to this model, the imago Dei exists not in humanity's past or present, but in humanity's future and in the person of Christ. As such, it functions as a "divine call forward" to become increasingly Christ-like (p. 96). Peters refrains from locating the imago Dei in humanity's past because he believes humanity's fallen state is "equiprimordial with our appearance in biological history" (p. 104) and that human nature was not fixed at some historical point but is retroactively determined by what humanity will be at the redemption. Unfortunately, Peters offers no clear definition of the imago Dei or explanation of its incompatibility with fallenness. *All contributors in part 1 affirm human uniqueness although some affirm it only by way of degree. In his concluding comments, editor Michael Burdett encourages readers to explore hybrid models, which allow them to affirm multifaceted understandings of imaging. *Part 2, Original Sin and Evolution, addresses the origins, transmission, and universality of sin. Contributors disagree whether the origins of human sinfulness should be identified with an intentional, human decision to turn away from God at a particular time in history (C. John Collins, Andrew Pinsent, and Gijsbert van den Brink) or with the inevitable realization of innate tendencies for aggression and self-assertion inherited from prehuman ancestors (Christopher Hays). Some contributors present science-compatible Fall narratives. For example, Collins proposes a "federal head" model in which two representative humans intentionally turned away from God at the headwaters of human history, bearing consequences for all humans. Hays, on the other hand, regards the historic placement of the first sin irrelevant since it was not responsible for subsequent sins. According to Hays, we can affirm the universality of sin and human culpability for sin without an originating sin. *McCoy's chapter cautions against misusing Irenaeus's theology to support theologies that dismiss a traditional Fall, which he argues is necessary to Irenaean thought. McCoy's chapter is insightful, but unless the reader is familiar with the external discussion McCoy is responding to, the chapter appears somewhat tangential to part 2's driving questions. *Contributors affirm the universality of sin, although they disagree on the mechanisms that unify humanity in sin and account for the transmission of sin: Collins suggests that unity in sin is rooted in covenant with God, Van den Toren argues that transmission of sin is inseparable from cultural evolution, and Pinsent suggests that original sin is propagated by the absence of supernatural grace (which he suggests was a pre-Fall addition to human nature). *Part 3, Evil and Evolution, addresses questions of why God is not culpable for animal suffering in pre-human history and why God employed violent means of creating; it highlights a variety of avenues available to affirm God's goodness in light of prehuman suffering. Only-way theodicies dominate: they include Rosenberg's view that death and decay are necessary marks of a finite world, Vince Vitale's "non-identity theodicy" (based on the idea that the existence of individuals alive today is contingent on past suffering), and Christopher Southgate's argument that the values of this world come at the expense of its disvalues. Michael Lloyd provides the only substantive free will defense, which attributes a cosmic Fall to free angelic beings, and Richard Swinburne offers an Irenaean soul-making theodicy which argues that the finite amount of suffering God allows us to endure is outweighed by the goodness of the soul-making opportunities it provides. *Part 3 benefits from the way contributors highlight lingering concerns in each other's models. Lloyd's chapter "Theodicy, Fall, and Adam" is exemplary: from only-way theodicies Lloyd calls for better defense of the unique creativity of violence, and from Augustinian nonbeing approaches he calls for a better defense of the inability of God to counteract creation's tendency toward nonbeing now if God will do so post-eschaton. However, since the format of the book does not facilitate intra-book responses, such challenges remain unaddressed. Moreover, editorial content and many contributors assume that prehuman suffering is "evil," and, although some contributors disagree, this assumption is unfortunately never explicitly contested. Nevertheless, part 3 concludes the book in a helpful way: it outlines potential solutions to concerns about evil and the goodness of creation that are discussed throughout the book. *In conclusion, part 1 provides defenses of four models of imaging--sometimes at the expense of discussion concerning human uniqueness, origins, and telos. Part 2 successfully provides a multifaceted discussion on the origins, transmission, and universality of sin. And part 3 offers theodicies that illuminate various directions forward; it also raises many unanswered questions. Ultimately, bringing a representative selection of views to the table--more so than novel ideas--is the function of this book. Editorial contributions unify Finding Ourselves after Darwin as an accessible, well-assembled exploration of truth. Editors, and sometimes contributors, offer epistemological guidance and identify fruitful avenues for future exploration, making the discussion one that uniquely moves the reader forward in their search for truth. Interaction between contributors, when present, adds richness to the discussion but is not consistent throughout the book. Finding Ourselves after Darwin is further unified by a commitment to the doctrinal core that is accompanied by various degrees of flexibility concerning the retention of theological theories that have grown up around certain doctrines. Finding Ourselves after Darwin will help undergraduate students, pastors, and other informed Christians pursue a coherent and scientifically informed faith. *Reviewed by Charlotte Combrink, Religious Studies at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. FINDING OURSELVES AFTER DARWIN: Conversations on the Image of God, Original Sin, and the Problem of Evil by Stanley P. Rosenberg (general editor) and Michael Burdett, Michael Lloyd, and Benno van den Toren (associate editors). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018. vii + 375 pages. Paperback; $34.00. ISBN: 9780801098246. Kindle; $16.99. ISBN: 9781493406586. *Finding Ourselves after Darwin responds to questions of how humanity defines itself and understands its primeval origins in a post-Darwinian world. It does so by offering a representative selection of Christian responses to questions about the image of God, original sin, and the problem of evil raised at the interface of evolutionary science and Christian faith. This book grew out of the project "Evolution and Christian Faith" funded by BioLogos, and many contributors participated in several colloquia held at Oxford. *Finding Ourselves after Darwin is thematically and structurally coherent, unlike many similar edited volumes. Two introductory essays by general editor Stanley Rosenberg and associate editor Benno van den Toren introduce the truth-seeking and dialogue-modeling commitments of the book. Following these essays, the book is divided into three parts: (1) The Image of God and Evolution, (2) Original Sin and Evolution, and (3) Evil and Evolution. Each part features five or six contributors' responses to issues raised in each topic. Associate editors Michel Burdett, Benno van den Toren, and Michael Lloyd each provide introductory and conclusory comments to one of the three parts, in which they identify the part's driving questions and then summarize and interact with the material. *Discussion in part 1, The Image of God and Evolution, centers on the ability of four conventional models of imaging (functional, structural, relational, dynamic) to withstand challenges posed by evolution. Defending the viability of these four models takes precedence over intermittent discussion of human uniqueness, origins, and telos. Wentzel van Huysteen's introductory chapter suggests that evolutionary insights help inform a robust understanding of the human capacity for imaging. According to his "bottom-up" approach, the image of God emerged from nature through evolution; he believes we should take this into account when trying to understand the human person. *Following van Huysteen, Mark Harris shares a version of the functional model of imaging, which locates the imago Dei in humanity's role to be God's representative rulers on the earth. Harris uses scripture well but only marginally engages evolutionary theory since, according to him, it poses few challenges to the functional model of imaging. *Next, Aku Visala offers a strong defense for the structural theory of imaging against challenges raised by evolutionary theory. Structural theories of imaging often locate the image of God in uniquely human cognitive, moral, relational, and religious capacities; therefore, challenges to human uniqueness--such as claims that no clear dividing line exists between humans and animals--appear to threaten the viability of structural models of imaging. However, Visala shows that an appropriately modified version of the structural theory withstands these challenges by requiring no such clear dividing line (instead, humans stand apart from animals in the unique degree to which they actualize certain capacities). Visala also suggests that animals can have nonhuman souls and that animals continue to evolve in their imaging capacity; consequently, the "image of God is as much about becoming as it is about being" (p. 77). Visala advocates for an emergent dualist approach to the soul, one which embraces evolutionary insights into the way our "perceptual, conceptual, and emotional systems work" while maintaining that the soul accounts for certain phenomena evolutionary that explanations cannot account for, such as the existence of the person, human dignity, and life after death (p. 71). *Then Jay Oord presents a relational-love model of imaging in which he suggests that "living a life of love" is the essence of imaging (p. 88) and that God invites nonhuman creatures to bear God's image by imitating God's love. *Finally, Ted Peters offers a dynamic model of imaging in which humans are still evolving into the imago Dei. According to this model, the imago Dei exists not in humanity's past or present, but in humanity's future and in the person of Christ. As such, it functions as a "divine call forward" to become increasingly Christ-like (p. 96). Peters refrains from locating the imago Dei in humanity's past because he believes humanity's fallen state is "equiprimordial with our appearance in biological history" (p. 104) and that human nature was not fixed at some historical point but is retroactively determined by what humanity will be at the redemption. Unfortunately, Peters offers no clear definition of the imago Dei or explanation of its incompatibility with fallenness. *All contributors in part 1 affirm human uniqueness although some affirm it only by way of degree. In his concluding comments, editor Michael Burdett encourages readers to explore hybrid models, which allow them to affirm multifaceted understandings of imaging. *Part 2, Original Sin and Evolution, addresses the origins, transmission, and universality of sin. Contributors disagree whether the origins of human sinfulness should be identified with an intentional, human decision to turn away from God at a particular time in history (C. John Collins, Andrew Pinsent, and Gijsbert van den Brink) or with the inevitable realization of innate tendencies for aggression and self-assertion inherited from pre-human ancestors (Christopher Hays). Some contributors present science-compatible Fall narratives. For example, Collins proposes a "federal head" model in which two representative humans intentionally turned away from God at the headwaters of human history, bearing consequences for all humans. Hays, on the other hand, regards the historic placement of the first sin irrelevant since it was not responsible for subsequent sins. According to Hays, we can affirm the universality of sin and human culpability for sin without an originating sin. *McCoy's chapter cautions against misusing Irenaeus's theology to support theologies that dismiss a traditional Fall, which he argues is necessary to Irenaean thought. McCoy's chapter is insightful, but unless the reader is familiar with the external discussion McCoy is responding to, the chapter appears somewhat tangential to part 2's driving questions. *Contributors affirm the universality of sin, although they disagree on the mechanisms that unify humanity in sin and account for the transmission of sin: Collins suggests that unity in sin is rooted in covenant with God, Van den Toren argues that transmission of sin is inseparable from cultural evolution, and Pinsent suggests that original sin is propagated by the absence of supernatural grace (which he suggests was a pre-Fall addition to human nature). *Part 3, Evil and Evolution, addresses questions of why God is not culpable for animal suffering in pre-human history and why God employed violent means of creating; it highlights a variety of avenues available to affirm God's goodness in light of prehuman suffering. Only-way theodicies dominate: they include Rosenberg's view that death and decay are necessary marks of a finite world, Vince Vitale's "non-identity theodicy" (based on the idea that the existence of individuals alive today is contingent on past suffering), and Christopher Southgate's argument that the values of this world come at the expense of its disvalues. Michael Lloyd provides the only substantive free will defense, which attributes a cosmic Fall to free angelic beings, and Richard Swinburne offers an Irenaean soul-making theodicy which argues that the finite amount of suffering God allows us to endure is outweighed by the goodness of the soul-making opportunities it provides. *Part 3 benefits from the way contributors highlight lingering concerns in each other's models. Lloyd's chapter "Theodicy, Fall, and Adam" is exemplary: from only-way theodicies Lloyd calls for better defense of the unique creativity of violence, and from Augustinian nonbeing approaches he calls for a better defense of the inability of God to counteract creation's tendency toward nonbeing now if God will do so post-eschaton. However, since the format of the book does not facilitate intra-book responses, such challenges remain unaddressed. Moreover, editorial content and many contributors assume that prehuman suffering is "evil," and, although some contributors disagree, this assumption is unfortunately never explicitly contested. Nevertheless, part 3 concludes the book in a helpful way: it outlines potential solutions to concerns about evil and the goodness of creation that are discussed throughout the book. *In conclusion, part 1 provides defenses of four models of imaging--sometimes at the expense of discussion concerning human uniqueness, origins, and telos. Part 2 successfully provides a multifaceted discussion on the origins, transmission, and universality of sin. And part 3 offers theodicies that illuminate various directions forward; it also raises many unanswered questions. Ultimately, bringing a representative selection of views to the table--more so than novel ideas--is the function of this book. Editorial contributions unify Finding Ourselves after Darwin as an accessible, well-assembled exploration of truth. Editors, and sometimes contributors, offer epistemological guidance and identify fruitful avenues for future exploration, making the discussion one that uniquely moves the reader forward in their search for truth. Interaction between contributors, when present, adds richness to the discussion but is not consistent throughout the book. Finding Ourselves after Darwin is further unified by a commitment to the doctrinal core that is accompanied by various degrees of flexibility concerning the retention of theological theories that have grown up around certain doctrines. Finding Ourselves after Darwin will help undergraduate students, pastors, and other informed Christians pursue a coherent and scientifically informed faith. *Reviewed by Charlotte Combrink, Religious Studies at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA 93108.

2015 - 2016
In the broad setting of the medioeval Scholasticism, between the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries, few theologians put the focus on one question: the angelic sin. That is: how is it possible that, according to Aristotle, a perfectly intellectual creature can make an error of judgement and so to fall in sin? This is the most relevant aspect for the authors we have picked in exam, wich, rather than investigate the role and the participation of Lucyfer in human matters, they have an obsession with the possibility itself in the angelic sin. They consider the matter a real enigma to be solved. In fact, Lucyfer is a real exception (almost impossible to be demonstrated) in a universe where the relationship between the retional and the good seems to be undeniable. Furthermore, the fact the an intellectually perfect creature can make a mistake and chose the evil come to be impossible. Ultimately, the question is: how is it possible to an angel to turn into a demon? That is, how is it possible for the Devil to rise? This is the thorny question that the scholastic theologians are trying to answer and in this work we tried to reconstruct the debate upon the matter by a historycal-phylosophical view. The question is particularly intersting in relation with the “Psychology of action” of aristothelic mould and it is linked with the debate between “intellectualists” and “voluntarists”, which found it outburst between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries. This work is based particularly on the analysis of three doctrinal opinions: on one hand the Thomas of Aquinas’ one, on the other hand Richard of Middleton and Peter John Olivi’s ones. Nevertheless, there are many reasons for this choise, but there is one of them particularly worth of notice: in the play of the three mentioned authors we can retrace three threaties or, it would be better to say three sections of vaster plays, which seem to be the only ones that could be defined as “threaties of demonology” in the period between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries. In these texts the question of the angelic sin is directly faced: we are referring to q. 16 of the Quaestiones disputatae de malo of Thomas of Aquinas, to qq. 23-31 of the Quaestiones disputatae of Richard of Middleton (1290-1330) and to qq. 40-48 of the Summa of Peter John Olivi (1288-1295). The attempt was to analyse in detail, starting from a careful study of the texts, the theories of these authors, opportunely comparing them with the theories of the other interlocutors of the debate upon the angelic sin and placing them in their very intellectual context. [edited by Author]
XXIX n.s.

2011 - 2012
É lecito indagare sulle capacità linguistiche e sulle propensioni comunicative della creatura angelica? Analoga alla natura umana, ma pur sempre superiore ad essa, la sostanza celeste incarna infatti l’ideale gnoseologico a cui l’homo viator tende e aspira: l’intelletto celeste possiede e custodisce ab origine la totalità delle idee e delle species che l’uomo può formulare esclusivamente ab intellectu. Perchè mai dunque gli angeli, che conoscono ogni cosa, dovrebbero avvertire l’esigenza di comunicare? Di cosa dovrebbero mai parlare?Il testo biblico, che riporta di numerosi dialoghi tra interlocutore angelico e terreno, costituisce l’argomentazione più efficace atta ad avvalorare l’ipotesi della lingua angelorum. Il mio lavoro intende analizzare tre tra le più significative riflessioni sviluppate tra i secoli XIII e XIV in merito alla locutio angelica. Uno studio preliminare di carattere puramente introduttivo è dedicato alla lettura del corpus areopagiticum, termine di confronto necessario per chiunque intendesse, nel Medioevo, misurarsi con le tematiche di carattere angelologico. Ampia parte della tesi è inoltre dedicata all’analisi del De cognitione angelorum di Egidio Romano, il quale offrì all’angelologia medievale la più compiuta delle riflessioni che avesse come oggetto di indagine le caratteristiche, le proprietà e le operazioni della natura angelica. Il lavoro procede con l’illustrazione delle considerazioni svolte da Durando di San Porciano e Tommaso di Strasburgo in merito alla filosofia del linguaggio angelico. Sebbene ciascuno dei maestri medievali intenda la nozione di virtus communicativa angelica a proprio modo e la interpreti col supporto dei propri strumenti, sembra emergere, dalla lettura dei testi, un’unica e costante tendenza: più che al confronto col dato biblico l’ipotesi della locutio angelica risponde all’ esigenza di nutrire la speranza che gli angeli si rivolgano a noi per supportarci e accompagnarci in hac vita, e per sottrarci alla mondana solitudine a cui sembreremmo invece altrimenti destinati. [a cura dell'autore]
XI n.s.

Le muralisme chicano, a la difference du mouvement muraliste mexicain des annees 1920, est ne de la lutte de cesar chavez. C'est au sein de la lutte de chavez et de son syndicat qu'apparaissent les signes avant-coureurs du muralisme chicano: la banniere de la vierge de guadalupe, l'aigle noir sur fond blanc et l'illustration graphique du journal el malcriado. Sur le plan socio-philosophique, le muralisme chicano a emerge du vide culturel: vide dans la formation des peintres ou exclusion des musees pour les artistes chicanos. Afin de pallier ces problemes, ils ont cree des centres culturels et alabore une conception de l'art non-occidentale. Dans les trois villes etudiees, le muralisme a ete tres different. A los angeles, le muralisme est ne des graffiti et a ete initie dans des cites tres pauvres par charles felix. Par la suite, de militant, le muralisme chicano est devenu environnemental. A san francisco, le muralisme chicano est ne du chomage et a pris un caractere multi-ethnique. A san diego, le muralisme est ne de la renovation urbaine et de la construction de "chicano park" pour lutter contre la construction du pont coronado. Nous avons trois mouvements muralistes chicanos. L'indigenisme est un thele recurrent dans les trois villes et est lie au plan espiritual de aztlan
Chicano mural painting in the united states was born within cesar chavez movement and the farmworkers movement. The banners of the virgin de guadalupe and the aztec eagle as well as graphic illustration in el malcriado are the signs that foretell the mural movement. On a socio-philosophical and esthetic levels, chicano murals emerged from a cultural nothingness both on the point of view of lack of education for some painters as well as the exclusion of chicano artists from the artistic scenne. That is why they created cultural centers and built up a non-occidental conception of art. In the three cities we studied, chicano murals were very different. In los angeles, chicano murals emerged from graffiti and was initiated in poor housing projects by charles felix. Afterwards, from militant chicano muralism became environmental. In san francisco, chicano muralism was born from unemployment and had a multi-ethnic charcter. In san diego, muralism was born from urban renewal and from the buildin of chicano park to. Struggle against the building of coronado bridge. So, in fact, we have three chicano mural movements. Indigenism is a recurrent theme in the three cities and is linked to the plan espiritua of aztlan

Les voiles du Sacrifice d’Iphigénie de Timanthe et du Rideau de Parrhasios problématisent le regard antique et font naître un au-delà qui stratifie la représentation. Le silence qu’ils introduisent dans l’image génère une activité « phantastique » fondatrice d’une poéticité visuelle. La Pala di San Marco adapte à un espace pictural unifié la structure du Tabernacle des Linaioli déjà empruntée au Tabernacle mosaïque. Séparant des espaces de sacralité croissante qui font écho à la lecture exégétique en vigueur au Couvent, les voiles y épaississent l’espace et le sens de l’œuvre, exigeant à chaque étape une transformation du regard. L’exégèse identifiant Marie à l’Arca Dei, le XVe siècle développe autour d’elle diverses formules tabernaculaires susceptibles d’annexer l’espace profane du spectateur. Au fond des Annonciations du Quattrocento le voile révélait le thalamus virginis, ventre métonymique de la Vierge. Cette symbolique s’effrite quand la scénographie se charge de l’évocation du Mystère. Le voile prend des accents métapicturaux ou révèle le vulgaire, la vanité, l’intime, la chair. Il les sacralise alors comme il avait sacralisé l’Arca Dei ou la figure de l’empereur. Aléatoire, il ouvre les œuvres à de surprenantes transgressions, comme l’érotisation des Virgo lactans. Les métaphores visuelles se multipliant pour évoquer ce qui pose problème à la représentation, le voile finit par prendre en charge l’image de ce qu’il cache. L’émergence du caché s’assume comme projet de l’œuvre. Contournant le précepte albertien, ce commerce avec l’invisible relie le motif à l’antique approche, ravivée par La Pléiade, d’une poésie qui n’a d’autre raison que d’en-visager l’ineffable
Veils in Sacrifice of Iphigenia by Timanthes and Curtain by Parrhasius signify a problematisation of the Antiquity’s gaze and engender a hereafter which stratifies representation. The silence these works introduce within the image generates a phantastic activity, the founding basis of a visual poetry.Pala di San Marco adapts to a unified pictorial space the structure of Tabernacolo dei Linaioli already borrowed from the Tabernacle of Moses. Separating spaces of increased sacredness and in accordance with the exegetic reading, veils thicken the space and the meaning of the masterpiece, demanding at each stage a transformation of the viewers’ gaze.The exegesis identifying Marie to Arca Dei, the 15th century develops around her numerous forms which are epigones of the Tabernacle’s and become liable to encompass the viewer’s profane space. Deep within Annunciations of the Quattrocento, the veil revealed the thalamus virginis, metonymical belly of the Virgin Mary. This symbolism becomes eroded when the stage design evokes Mystery. The veil conveys metapictorial allusions or reveals vanity, intimacy, flesh. It « sacralizes » them as it did of Arca Dei or of the emperor. Unpredictably, all works become opened up to surprising transgressions, such as the eroticisation of Virgo lactans. Multiple visual metaphors alluding to what is problematic about representation, the veil supports the image of what it is hiding. The surfacing of the concealed becomes the artwork in itself. Skirting around Alberti’s precepts, this trade with the invisible connects the motif with the ancient concept, revived by La Pléiade, of a poetry whose motive is no other than to en-visage the ineffable

La présente thèse de doctorat comprend l'analyse exhaustive de l'oeuvre mural florentin de Fra Angelico. Elle traite le contenu et le fonctionnement de près de cinquante fresques qui ornent les différents espaces du couvent dominicain de San Marco. L'auteur discute plusieurs hypothèses et affirmations de Georges Didi-Huberman, de Paolo Morachiello et de John T. Spike. Il démontre que toutes ces fresques se nourrissent de textes sacrés et de leurs commentaires patristiques et que leur fonction est de servir de support à la méditation. Par souci d'objectivité, il se réfère avant tout aux ouvrages exégétiques qui étaient disponibles à la bibliothèque de San Marco du vivant de Fra Angelico. Pour faciliter la compréhension des images, une introduction générale substantielle traite des caractéristiques de l'ordre des prêcheurs, de l'histoire du couvent de San Marco qui abrite les fresques, de la biographie du peintre et de la règle de la congrégation de l'observance à laquelle celui-ci appartenait.

This thesis attempts to disentangle the multilayered interactions between Greater Los Angeles’s history, its built environment, and its inequitable treatment of different peoples, focusing on how transportation in surrounding suburban communities like San Gabriel Valley has developed in relation to the inner city of Los Angeles. Greater Los Angeles contains a long, winding trajectory of transit-based environmental injustices, from the indigenous societies being overtaken by the Spanish missions, to the railroads and streetcars boosting the farmlands and urban growth of Los Angeles, leading into the decline of transit and rise of automobile-oriented suburbia. Within the San Gabriel Valley, the suburban community of El Monte has a varied history in its racialized spatiality and transportation development, rising from a former agricultural hub and to its more recent growth as a vibrant working-class suburb full of minorities. Based on a case study of El Monte’s past and present built environment, this thesis looks at the present situation of El Monte’s downtown district, including a walkthrough of its ongoing downtown revitalization project centered on transit-oriented development around the newly renovated regional bus station. This thesis finds the city of El Monte and Greater Los Angeles’s transit agencies have approached the renewed economic and public interest in transit in disconnected ways, leading to mixed results for its working-class minority populace, but also finds avenues in which the government and the public can cooperatively create more equitable transit-based communities for the future.

Nell’ottobre del 1921 a Milano nacque la Scuola Superiore di Arte Cristiana Beato Angelico. Responsabili dell’iniziativa: don Giuseppe Polvara, l’architetto Angelo Banfi, il pittore Vanni Rossi, affiancati dallo scultore Franco Lombardi, dai sacerdoti Adriano e Domenico Bernareggi, dall’ingegner Giovanni Dedè, dal professor Giovanni Mamone e dall’avvocato Carlo Antonio Vianello. Gli allievi del primo anno scolastico furono nove, due dei quali (gli architetti don Giacomo Bettoli e Fortunato De Angeli) destinati a restare per lunghi anni nella Scuola come docenti: così avvenne anche col pittore Ernesto Bergagna, iscrittosi l’anno seguente. A partire da quell’avvenimento il contesto italiano dell’arte sacra poté contare su un elemento di indiscutibile novità, destinato nel giro di pochi anni a una rapida, diffusa e pervicace affermazione nella Penisola. La fondazione della Scuola Beato Angelico mise un punto fermo nell’annoso dibattito sul generale declino dell’arte sacra che andava in scena da lungo tempo in Italia così come nei principali Paesi europei. La formula ideata da don Polvara metteva a sistema le proprie esperienze personali, artistiche e professionali con la conoscenza del contesto internazionale, di alcuni modelli esemplari e il confronto con gruppi e singole figure (artisti, critici, uomini di Chiesa) animate dal comune desiderio di contribuire alla rinascita dell’arte sacra. A cento anni dalla sua nascita – e a settanta dalla scomparsa del suo fondatore – la Scuola Beato Angelico (coi laboratori di Architettura, Cesello, Ricamo, Pittura e Restauro) prosegue tuttora nel compito di servire la Chiesa attraverso la realizzazione di arredi e paramenti sacri contraddistinti da una particolare cura dell’aspetto artistico e liturgico, oggetto di ripetute attestazioni di merito e riconoscimenti in ambito ecclesiastico. Ciò che invece finora manca all’appello è un organico tentativo di ricostruzione delle vicende storiche che hanno segnato la genesi e gli sviluppi di questa singolare realtà artistica e religiosa. Scopo di questa tesi è quindi la restituzione di un profilo il più possibile dettagliato e ragionato della storia della Scuola Beato Angelico, tale da riportare questa vicenda al centro di una situazione storica e di un contesto culturale complesso, attraverso una prospettiva di lavoro originale condotta sul filo delle puntualizzazioni e delle riscoperte. Stante il carattere “pionieristico” di questa ricerca, la vastità dei materiali e delle fonti a disposizione e la conseguente necessità di assegnare un taglio cronologico riconoscibile al lavoro si è optato per circoscrivere l’indagine ai decenni compresi tra il 1921 e il 1950, ovvero tra la fondazione della Beato Angelico e la scomparsa di Giuseppe Polvara. Come si vedrà, il termine iniziale viene in un certo senso anticipato dall’esigenza di tratteggiare al meglio gli antefatti e il contesto da cui trae origine la Scuola (tra la fine del XIX e i primi decenni del XX secolo). L’anno assunto a conclusione della ricerca, invece, è parso una scelta quasi obbligata, coincidente col primo avvicendamento alla direzione della Beato Angelico oltre che dalla volontà di escludere dal discorso quanto andò avviandosi negli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta, ossia una nuova e diversa stagione nel campo dell’arte sacra (destinata, tra l’altro, a passare attraverso lo snodo rappresentato dal Concilio Vaticano II e dall’azione di S. Paolo VI), peraltro assai indagata dagli studi storico-artistici. Ciò che ha reso possibile la stesura di questa tesi è il fatto che essa si appoggi, in buona parte, su materiali archivistici inediti o, quantomeno, mai esaminati prima d’ora in modo strutturato. L’accesso ai materiali d’archivio più storicizzati e la loro consultazione (grazie alla disponibilità dimostrata dalla direzione della Scuola Beato Angelico) hanno condizionato in modo determinante la trattazione degli argomenti, la ricostruzione dei quali , in alcuni casi, è sostenuta esclusivamente dai documenti rinvenuti. La nascita della Scuola Beato Angelico non fu un accadimento isolato nel panorama della produzione artistica europea del tempo né un episodio estraneo a quanto, contemporaneamente, si andava dibattendo nel mondo ecclesiastico. La Scuola di Polvara nacque in un’epoca contrassegnata da grande fermento ecclesiale: si pensi agli Ateliers d’Art Sacré fondati da Maurice Denis e George Desvallières a Parigi nel 1919, solo due anni prima della Scuola milanese, i cui aderenti – tutti laici – professavano una religiosità intensa e devota. Ma, soprattutto, il modello determinante e più conosciuto da Polvara fu la Scuola di Beuron (Beuroner Kunstschule), nata nell’omonima abazia benedettina tedesca nell’ultimo quarto del XIX secolo a opera di padre Desiderius Lenz e sul cui esempio ben presto sorsero atelier specializzati nella produzione di arte sacra (arredi e paramenti a uso liturgico) in molte comunità benedettine dell’Europa centrale. L’affinità di Polvara con la spiritualità benedettina è un elemento-chiave della Scuola da lui fondata: dalla regola dell’ora et labora derivò infatti il concetto (analogo) di “preghiera rappresentata” (orando labora). L’organizzazione stessa della Scuola, impostata come in un’ideale bottega medievale dove maestri, apprendisti e allievi collaborano e convivono, riprende lo stile di vita monastico dei cenobi benedettini. Proprio al fine di conservare il più possibile il carattere della bottega medievale, il numero degli allievi ammessi alla Scuola non fu mai troppo elevato, così da mantenere un adeguato ed efficace rapporto numerico tra i discepoli e i maestri. Ancora, da Beuron la Beato Angelico trasse la particolare e inconfondibile forma grafica della lettera “e”, riconoscibile nelle numerose e lunghe epigrafi presenti in tante sue opere. Ultimo elemento in comune tra la Scuola milanese e quella tedesca – ma che si può imputare alla più generale fascinazione per l’epoca medievale – è l’unità di intenti che deve animare tutte le maestranze impegnate a creare un’opera collettiva e anonima ad maiorem Dei gloriam, dove il contributo del singolo autore rimane volutamente nascosto in favore del nome della Scuola. Ciò che differenzia, tuttora, la Scuola da analoghi centri di produzione di arte sacra è il fatto che essa poggi le fondamenta su una congregazione religiosa, la Famiglia Beato Angelico, un’idea a lungo coltivata da Polvara e approvata ufficialmente dall’autorità diocesana fra gli anni Trenta e Quaranta. Dalla comune vocazione alla creazione artistica sacra (“missione sacerdotale” dell’artista) discendono la pratica della vita comunitaria, la partecipazione ai sacramenti e ai diversi momenti quotidiani di preghiera da parte di maestri sacerdoti, confratelli e consorelle artisti, apprendisti, allievi e allieve. L’indirizzo spirituale tracciato dal fondatore per la sua Famiglia agisce ancora oggi a garanzia di una strenua fedeltà nella continuità di un progetto artistico e liturgico unico, messo in pratica da una comunità di uomini e donne legate fra loro dai canonici voti di povertà, castità e obbedienza ma soprattutto da un comune e più alto intento. Appunto per assicurare una prospettiva di sopravvivenza e futuro sviluppo della sua creatura, Polvara ebbe sempre chiara la necessità di mantenere unito l’aspetto della formazione (e quindi la didattica nei confronti degli allievi, adolescenti e giovani) con quello della produzione (spettante all’opera di collaborazione fra maestri, apprendisti e allievi). Dal punto di vista operativo le discipline artistiche, praticate nei vari laboratori in cui si articola la Scuola, concorrono, senza alcuna eccezione e nella citata forma anonima e collettiva, a creare un prodotto artistico organico e unitario, una “opera d’arte totale” che deve rispondere all’indirizzo dato dal maestro architetto (lo stesso Polvara), cui spettano devozione, rispetto e obbedienza. Alla progettazione architettonica viene dunque assegnata grande importanza e ciò comporta che le opere meglio rappresentative della Scuola Beato Angelico siano quegli edifici sacri interamente realizzati con l’intervento dei suoi laboratori per tutte o quasi le decorazioni, gli arredi, le suppellettili e i paramenti (come le chiese milanesi di S. Maria Beltrade, S. Vito al Giambellino, SS. MM. Nabore e Felice, o la chiesa di S. Eusebio ad Agrate Brianza e la cappella dell’Istituto religioso delle figlie di S. Eusebio a Vercelli). Quanto ai linguaggi espressivi impiegati dalla Scuola (il cosiddetto “stile”) si evidenziano la preferenza per il moderno razionalismo architettonico – un tema di stringente attualità, cui Polvara non mancò di dare il suo personale contributo teorico e pratico – e quella per il divisionismo in pittura, debitrice dell’antica ammirazione per l’opera di Gaetano Previati. Dall’interazione di queste due forme si origina un riconoscibile linguaggio, moderno e spirituale al tempo stesso, verificabile negli edifici come nelle singole opere, frutto di una profonda sensibilità che combina il ponderato recupero di alcune forme del passato (ad esempio l’iconografia paleocristiana reimpiegata nei motivi decorativi dei paramenti o nella foggia di alcuni manufatti, dal calice al tabernacolo, alla pianeta-casula) con lo slancio per uno stile moderno e funzionale adeguato ai tempi ma rispettoso della tradizione.
In October 1921, the Beato Angelico Higher School of Christian Art was born in Milan. Responsible for the initiative: Don Giuseppe Polvara, the architect Angelo Banfi, the painter Vanni Rossi, flanked by the sculptor Franco Lombardi, by the priests Adriano and Domenico Bernareggi, by the engineer Giovanni Dedè, by professor Giovanni Mamone and by the lawyer Carlo Antonio Vianello . There were nine pupils in the first school year, two of whom (the architects Don Giacomo Bettoli and Fortunato De Angeli) destined to remain in the School for many years as teachers: this also happened with the painter Ernesto Bergagna, who enrolled the following year. Starting from that event, the Italian context of sacred art was able to count on an element of indisputable novelty, destined within a few years to a rapid, widespread and stubborn affirmation in the Peninsula. The foundation of the Beato Angelico School put a stop to the age-old debate on the general decline of sacred art that had been staged for a long time in Italy as well as in major European countries. The formula conceived by Don Polvara put his personal, artistic and professional experiences into a system with the knowledge of the international context, some exemplary models and the comparison with groups and individual figures (artists, critics, men of the Church) animated by the common desire to contribute to the rebirth of sacred art. One hundred years after its birth - and seventy after the death of its founder - the Beato Angelico School (with the workshops of Architecture, Cesello, Embroidery, Painting and Restoration) still continues in the task of serving the Church through the creation of distinctive sacred furnishings and vestments. from a particular care of the artistic and liturgical aspect, object of repeated attestations of merit and acknowledgments in the ecclesiastical sphere. What is missing from the appeal so far is an organic attempt to reconstruct the historical events that marked the genesis and developments of this singular artistic and religious reality. The purpose of this thesis is therefore the return of a profile as detailed and reasoned as possible of the history of the Beato Angelico School, such as to bring this story back to the center of a historical situation and a complex cultural context, through an original work perspective conducted on thread of clarifications and rediscoveries. Given the "pioneering" nature of this research, the vastness of the materials and sources available and the consequent need to assign a recognizable chronological cut to the work, it was decided to limit the survey to the decades between 1921 and 1950, or between the foundation of Beato Angelico and the death of Giuseppe Polvara. As will be seen, the initial term is in a certain sense anticipated by the need to better outline the background and context from which the School originates (between the end of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century). The year assumed at the end of the research, on the other hand, seemed an almost obligatory choice, coinciding with the first change in the direction of Beato Angelico as well as the desire to exclude from the discussion what started in the 1950s and 1960s, that is a new and different season in the field of sacred art (destined, among other things, to pass through the junction represented by the Second Vatican Council and by the action of St. Paul VI), which is however much investigated by historical-artistic studies. What made the drafting of this thesis possible is the fact that it relies, in large part, on unpublished archival materials or, at least, never examined before in a structured way. Access to the most historicized archive materials and their consultation (thanks to the availability shown by the direction of the Beato Angelico School) have decisively conditioned the discussion of the topics, the reconstruction of which, in some cases, is supported exclusively by documents found. The birth of the Beato Angelico School was not an isolated event in the panorama of European artistic production of the time nor an episode unrelated to what was being debated in the ecclesiastical world at the same time. The Polvara School was born in an era marked by great ecclesial ferment: think of the Ateliers d'Art Sacré founded by Maurice Denis and George Desvallières in Paris in 1919, only two years before the Milanese School, whose adherents - all lay people - they professed an intense and devoted religiosity. But, above all, the decisive and best known model by Polvara was the Beuron School (Beuroner Kunstschule), born in the homonymous German Benedictine abbey in the last quarter of the nineteenth century by father Desiderius Lenz and on whose example workshops specialized in the production of sacred art (furnishings and vestments for liturgical use) in many Benedictine communities in central Europe. Polvara's affinity with Benedictine spirituality is a key element of the School he founded: in fact, the (analogous) concept of "represented prayer" (orando labora) derived from the rule of the ora et labora. The very organization of the School, set up as in an ideal medieval workshop where teachers, apprentices and pupils collaborate and coexist, takes up the monastic lifestyle of the Benedictine monasteries. Precisely in order to preserve the character of the medieval workshop as much as possible, the number of students admitted to the School was never too high, so as to maintain an adequate and effective numerical ratio between disciples and masters. Again, from Beuron Fra Angelico drew the particular and unmistakable graphic form of the letter "e", recognizable in the numerous and long epigraphs present in many of his works. The last element in common between the Milanese and the German schools - but which can be attributed to the more general fascination for the medieval era - is the unity of purpose that must animate all the workers involved in creating a collective and anonymous work ad maiorem. Dei gloriam, where the contribution of the single author remains deliberately hidden in favor of the name of the School. What still differentiates the School from similar centers of production of sacred art is the fact that it rests its foundations on a religious congregation, the Beato Angelico Family, an idea long cultivated by Polvara and officially approved by the diocesan authority between the thirties and forties. From the common vocation to sacred artistic creation (the artist's "priestly mission") descend the practice of community life, the participation in the sacraments and the various daily moments of prayer by master priests, brothers and sisters artists, apprentices, pupils and pupils . The spiritual direction traced by the founder for his family still acts today as a guarantee of a strenuous fidelity in the continuity of a unique artistic and liturgical project, put into practice by a community of men and women linked together by the canonical vows of poverty, chastity. and obedience but above all from a common and higher intent. Precisely to ensure a prospect of survival and future development of his creature, Polvara always had a clear need to keep the training aspect (and therefore the teaching for students, adolescents and young people) united with that of production (due to the work of collaboration between teachers, apprentices and students). From an operational point of view, the artistic disciplines, practiced in the various laboratories in which the School is divided, contribute, without any exception and in the aforementioned anonymous and collective form, to create an organic and unitary artistic product, a "total work of art" which must respond to the address given by the master architect (Polvara himself), to whom devotion, respect and obedience are due. The architectural design is therefore assigned great importance and this means that the best representative works of the Beato Angelico School are those sacred buildings entirely made with the intervention of its laboratories for all or almost all the decorations, furnishings, furnishings and Milanese churches of S. Maria Beltrade, S. Vito al Giambellino, S. MM. Nabore and Felice, or the church of S. Eusebio in Agrate Brianza and the chapel of the religious institute of the daughters of S. Eusebio in Vercelli). As for the expressive languages used by the School (the so-called "style"), the preference for modern architectural rationalism is highlighted - a topic of stringent topicality, to which Polvara did not fail to give his personal theoretical and practical contribution - and that for Divisionism in painting, indebted to the ancient admiration for the work of Gaetano Previati. The interaction of these two forms gives rise to a recognizable language, modern and spiritual at the same time, verifiable in the buildings as in the individual works, the result of a profound sensitivity that combines the thoughtful recovery of some forms of the past (for example early Christian iconography reused in the decorative motifs of the vestments or in the shape of some artifacts, from the chalice to the tabernacle, to the chasuble-chasuble) with the impetus for a modern and functional style appropriate to the times but respectful of tradition.

Kartographische Methoden sind tief verwurzelt in einen ,geographischen Blick' auf das sogenannte Andere. Karten, egal ob klassisch oder kritisch, erzählen meist Geschichten über woanders, über hier und da und reproduzieren dabei häufig koloniale Kontinuitäten, indem angeblich ,leere' Räume, wie Körper oder Land, mit Zuschreibungen versehen werden. Das oftmals privilegierte, kartierende wissenschaftliche ,Forscher*innen-Ich', bleibt dabei meist unsichtbar. Methoden reflexiver und kritischer feministischer K/Artographien, die die Verwobenheit von Kartographie, Visualität und künstlerischer Kreativität betonen, eröffnen in diesem Spannungsverhältnis das Potential, die eigene Positionierung im ,Mappen' von Wissen und Sein nicht nur gesellschaftlich sichtbar zu machen, sondern auch zu analysieren und zu dekonstruieren.

In July, 1989, the Goddard Space Flight Center mobile stratospheric lidar was deployed at JPL's Table Mountain Facility in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles (34.4N, 117.7W). The purpose was a major intercomparison of ozone sensors in order to validate the lidar technique as a reliable, accurate and precise instrument for the measurement of stratospheric ozone. The GSFC lidar data have also been used to extract a temperature profile between 30 and 65 km. The temperature retrieval utilizes the ozone profile reference wavelength (355 nm) which is essentially no absorption due to ozone. Because the retrieval is sensitive to aerosols, no attempt is made to extract temperature below 30 km.

The Pursuing Regional Opportunities for Mentoring, Innovation, and Success for English Learners (PROMISE) Initiative Research Monograph is comprised of four sub-studies that took place between 2006 and 2009 to examine the effectiveness of the PROMISE Initiative across six implementing counties. Beginning in 2002, the superintendents of the six Southern California County Offices of Education collaborated to examine the pattern of the alarmingly low academic performance of English learners (EL) across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, and Ventura. Together, these six counties serve over one million EL students, more than 66% of the total EL population in the state of California, and close to 20% of the EL population in the nation. Data were compiled for the six counties, research on effective programs for ELs was shared, and a common vision for the success of ELs began to emerge. Out of this effort, the PROMISE Initiative was created to uphold a critical vision that ensured that ELs achieved and sustained high levels of proficiency, high levels of academic achievement, sociocultural and multicultural competency, preparation for successful transition to higher education, successful preparation as a 21st century global citizen, and high levels of motivation, confidence, and self-assurance. This report is organized into six chapters: an introductory chapter, four chapters of related studies, and a summary chapter. The four studies were framed around four areas of inquiry: 1) What is the PROMISE model? 2) What does classroom implementation of the PROMISE model look like? 3) What leadership skills do principals at PROMISE schools need to lead transformative education for ELs? 4) What impact did PROMISE have on student learning and participation? Key findings indicate that the PROMISE Initiative: • resulted in positive change for ELs at all levels including achievement gains and narrowing of the gap between ELs and non-ELs • increased use of research-based classroom practices • refined and strengthened plans for ELs at the district-level, and • demonstrated potential to enable infrastructure, partnerships, and communities of practice within and across the six school districts involved. The final chapter of the report provides implications for school reform for improving EL outcomes including bolstering EL expertise in school reform efforts, implementing sustained and in-depth professional development, monitoring and supporting long-term reform efforts, and establishing partnerships and networks to develop, research and disseminate efforts.

The Pursuing Regional Opportunities for Mentoring, Innovation, and Success for English Learners (PROMISE) Initiative Research Monograph is comprised of four sub-studies that took place between 2006 and 2009 to examine the effectiveness of the PROMISE Initiative across six implementing counties. Beginning in 2002, the superintendents of the six Southern California County Offices of Education collaborated to examine the pattern of the alarmingly low academic performance of English learners (EL) across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, and Ventura. Together, these six counties serve over one million EL students, more than 66% of the total EL population in the state of California, and close to 20% of the EL population in the nation. Data were compiled for the six counties, research on effective programs for ELs was shared, and a common vision for the success of ELs began to emerge. Out of this effort, the PROMISE Initiative was created to uphold a critical vision that ensured that ELs achieved and sustained high levels of proficiency, high levels of academic achievement, sociocultural and multicultural competency, preparation for successful transition to higher education, successful preparation as a 21st century global citizen, and high levels of motivation, confidence, and self-assurance. This report is organized into six chapters: an introductory chapter, four chapters of related studies, and a summary chapter. The four studies were framed around four areas of inquiry: 1) What is the PROMISE model? 2) What does classroom implementation of the PROMISE model look like? 3) What leadership skills do principals at PROMISE schools need to lead transformative education for ELs? 4) What impact did PROMISE have on student learning and participation? Key findings indicate that the PROMISE Initiative: • resulted in positive change for ELs at all levels including achievement gains and narrowing of the gap between ELs and non-ELs • increased use of research-based classroom practices • refined and strengthened plans for ELs at the district-level, and • demonstrated potential to enable infrastructure, partnerships, and communities of practice within and across the six school districts involved. The final chapter of the report provides implications for school reform for improving EL outcomes including bolstering EL expertise in school reform efforts, implementing sustained and in-depth professional development, monitoring and supporting long-term reform efforts, and establishing partnerships and networks to develop, research and disseminate efforts.

The San Joaquin Valley is identified as an area with a high level of particulate matter (PM) in the air, reaching above the federal and state clean air standards (EPA 2019). Many of the cities in the valley are classified as the most polluted cities in the United States for both particulate matter and ozone pollution (American Lung Association, 2021). To resolve this issue, alternative forms of transportation have been considered in transportation planning. In this study, active transportation mode air quality was monitored on selected Woodward Park and Old Clovis trails and urban bike lanes. Real-time aerosol monitors, and low-cost sensors were carried in a backpack on bicycles during the sampling. Researchers collected GPS data via a portable GPS technology called Tracksticks. Driving transportation mode air quality data was acquired from the roadways within the Fresno/Clovis area, spanning six sampling routes, and during intercity trips between Fresno, Berkeley, and Los Angeles, for a total of five sampling routes. ‘On-Road' (outside vehicle) monitors were installed on the roof of a vehicle while ‘In-Vehicle’ monitors were installed inside the vehicle for comparison with the particulate pollution levels in the two contrasting microenvironments. The results showed the following three main outcomes: (1) clear relationships exist among PMs of different sizes; (2) there were greater variations in air quality of bike trails and On-Road samples than backyard and In-Vehicle samples; (3) we observed significant differences in air quality inside and outside the vehicle while driving local and intercity roadways; and (4) the road trip to the Bay area revealed that San Joaquin Valley has increased ambient PM2.5 and black carbon (BC) levels compared to those in the Bay Area on every trip, regardless of the daily change of the air quality.

This study evaluates the demand for truck-only toll lanes on Southern California freeways with owner–operator truck drivers. The study implemented the stated preference survey method to estimate the value placed by drivers on time, reliability, and safety measures using various scenarios geared towards assessing those values. The project team met face-to-face with owner- operator truck drivers near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to understand the drivers’ perspectives regarding truck-only toll lanes on Southern California freeways. A data set containing 31 survey responses is obtained and used for statistical data analysis using analysis of variable (ANOVA) and two sample t-tests. The analysis results showed that 75.27% of the owner– operator truck drivers responded are willing to pay toll fees when they choose routes. The tolerated average toll fees are $13.77/ hr and $12.82/hr for weekdays and weekends, respectively. The analysis results also showed that owner–operator truck drivers will take truck-only toll lanes when they take the routes used in four comparisons out of six comparisons according to the three measures such as values of time, reliability, and safety, despite sharing a common origin and destination. The highest toll fee per mile on any day that drivers are willing to pay when the main factor being compared is value of time is $0.31/mile or $18.35/hr. The toll fees associated with reliability and safety measures are $0.30/mile or $8.94/hr and $0.22/mile or $11.01/hr, respectively. These results are meaningful for legislators and transportation agencies as the behaviors and route choice characteristics of owner–operator truck drivers help them better understand the utility and demand for truck-only toll lanes.

Despite the sharp drop in transit ridership throughout the USA that began in March 2020, two different uses of land near transit stations continue to be implemented in the United States to promote ridership. Since 2010, transit agencies have given priority to multi-family residential construction referred to as transit oriented development (TOD), with an emphasis on housing affordability. In second place for urban planners but popular with suburban commuters is free or inexpensive parking near rail or bus transit centers, known as park-and-ride (PnR). Sometimes, TOD and PnR are combined in the same development. Public policy seeks to gain high community value from both of these land uses, and there is public interest in understanding the circumstances and locations where one of these two uses should be emphasized over the other. Multiple justifications for each are offered in the professional literature and reviewed in this report. Fundamental to the strategic decision making necessary to allocate public resources toward one use or the other is a determination of the degree to which each approach generates transit ridership. In the research reported here, econometric analysis of GIS data for transit stops, PnR locations, and residential density was employed to measure their influence on transit boardings for samples of transit stops at the main transit agencies in Seattle, Los Angeles, and San José. Results from all three cities indicate that adding 100 parking spaces close to a transit stop has a larger marginal impact than adding 100 housing units. Previous academic research estimating the higher ridership generation per floor area of PnR compared to multi-family TOD housing makes this show of strength for parking an expected finding. At the same time, this report reviews several common public policy justifications for TOD as a preferred land development emphasis near transit stations, such as revenue generation for the transit agency and providing a location for below-market affordable housing where occupants do not need to have a car. If increasing ridership is important for a transit agency, then parking for customers who want to drive to a station is an important option. There may also be additional benefits for park-and-ride in responding to the ongoing pandemic.

The objective of this research project was to evaluate the involvement of antioxidant enzymes and genes in the resistance mechanism to postharvest superficial scald development using two primary systems: 1. Resistant and susceptible progenies of an apple cross between a scald resistant crab apple, ‘White Angel’ and a scald susceptible cultivar, ‘Rome Beauty’; 2. Heat-treatment of ‘Granny Smith’, which is known to reduce scald development in this cultivar. In 2002 we asked for, and received (October 14), permission to revise our initial objectives. The US side decided to expand their results to include further work using commercial cultivars. Also, both sides wanted to include an emphasis on the interaction between these antioxidant enzymes and the á-farnesene pathway, with the cooperation of a third party, Dr. Bruce Whitaker, USDA-ARS, Beltsville. Background: Superficial scald is a physiological storage disorder that causes damage to the skin of apple and pear fruit. It is currently controlled by use of an antioxidant, diphenylamine (DPA), applied postharvest by drenching or dips, but concern exists about such chemical usage especially as it also involves application of fungicides. As a result, there has been increased emphasis on understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in disorder development. Our approach was to focus on the oxidative processes that occur during scald development, and specifically on using the two model systems described above to determine if the levels of specific antioxidants and/or antioxidant enzyme activities correlated with the presence/absence of scald. It was hoped that information about the role of antioxidant-defense mechanisms would lead to identification of candidate genes for future transgenic manipulation. Major conclusions, solutions, achievements: Collectively, our results highlight the complexity of superficial scald developmental processes. Studies involving comparisons of antioxidant enzyme activities in different crab apple selection, commercial cultivars, and in response to postharvest heat and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatments, show no simple direct relationships with antioxidant contents and susceptibility of fruit to scald development. However, a correlative relationship was found between POX activity or isoenzyme number and scald resistance in most of the studies. This relationship, if confirmed, could be exploited in breeding for scald resistance. In addition, our investigations with key genes in the á-farnesenebiosynthetic pathway, together with antioxidant processes, are being followed up by analysis of exposed and shaded sides of fruit of cultivars that show different degrees of scald control by 1-MCP. These data may further reveal productive areas for future research that will lead to long term control of the disorder. However, given the complexity of scald development, the greatest research need is the production of transgenic fruit with down-regulated genes involved in á- farnesene biosynthesis in order to test the currently popular hypothesis for scald development.