A Cultural Symbiosis

The history of the Florentine patriciate did not end with the establishment of the Medici Duchy and Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Proud and self-confident, these patricians were not subservient courtiers; on the contrary, they continued to exert a considerable influence on Florentine culture and politics for centuries. The patrician class in sixteenth-century Florence were the descendants of wealthy, sophisticated and politically savvy families who, while acquiring noble titles, estates, and villas, retained their long-standing urban identity. The mark they left on the city’s cultural and artistic life was embraced by the Medici, who used their political and diplomatic knowhow, eleborate artistic commissions, and European networks to enhance their power and prestige. A Cultural Symbiosis highlights the contributions to Florentine art and culture of eight patricians, focusing on the Valori, Pucci, Ridolfi, Vecchietti, del Nero, Salviati, Guicciardini, and Niccolini families.

"In a provocative and thoughtful essay, Estonia's preeminent poet and cultural critic, Juri Talvet, investigates the role of culture in the postmodern world. Against the large background of historical values in western and world culture, Talvet inveighs against monologues and grand narratives launched by Western centers, envisaging instead a cultural symbiosis that would create a new and fertile dialogue between the centers, borders, and peripheries of the world, enrich cultural sensibility, and broaden concern for the Other."--BOOK JACKET.

The book deals in detail with previously understudied language contact settings in the Balkans (South East Europe) that present a continuum between ethnic and linguistic separation and symbiosis among groups of people. The studies in this volume achieve several aims: they critically assess the Balkan Sprachbund theory; they analyse general contact theories against the background of new, original, representative field and historical Greek, Albanian, Romance, Slavic and Judesmo data; they employ and contribute to recent methods of research on linguistic convergence in bilingual societies; they propose new general assessments of extra- and intralinguistic factors of Balkanization over the centuries; and they outline prospects for future research. The factors relevant to contact scenarios and linguistic change in the Balkans are identified and typologized through models such as those related to a balanced or unbalanced (socio)linguistic situation.

Has our system of accountability and quick fixes meant we've lost perspective of what can really improve the quality of education? With a multitude of issues at the heart of some of our more toxic schools, including micro-management, over-complicated policy and the intricate measurement of the wrong foci, it appears that teachers are experiencing a disconnect from the very reason they joined teaching in the first place. With little autonomy over what's important, fewer teachers enter the profession than the monumental amount of teachers that are leaving, and those that do, do so with reluctance and regret. With an astute examination of practice in schools, Claire Hill and Kat Howard take a thoughtful and strategic view of how to ensure a sense of connection and cohesion within schools, to ensure that all feel part of the collective curricular journey towards a gold standard. With a consideration of research-informed practice, this book will provide a series of strategies for curriculum designers at every level, keeping the high quality teachers that we very much need in schools, and providing a better palette to students in the process. At a time where teaching is somewhat politicised, monetised and overcomplicated, Symbiosis: Curriculum and the Classroom sets about the task of refining the way in which we run our schools to improve the quality of our everyday lives in schools.

These essays, written by experts in their fields, demonstrate how necessary it is in the study of the humanities and social sciences to realize the interdependency of the fields and how rich the resulting study can be.

A vastly entertaining and unique history of the interaction between spying and showbiz, from the Elizabethan age to the Cold War and beyond. 'A treasure trove of human ingenuity' The Times Written by two experts in their fields, Stars and Spies is the first history of the extraordinary connections between the intelligence services and show business. We travel back to the golden age of theatre and intelligence in the reign of Elizabeth I. We meet the writers, actors and entertainers drawn into espionage in the Restoration, the Ancien Régime and Civil War America. And we witness the entry of spying into mainstream popular culture throughout the twentieth century and beyond - from the adventures of James Bond to the thrillers of John le Carré and long-running TV series such as The Americans. 'Thoroughly entertaining' Spectator 'Perfect...read as you settle into James Bond on Christmas afternoon.' Daily Telegraph