Understanding Everyday Homes of Urban Communities： The Case of Local Streets （Hawari） of Old Cairo

This paper aims at investigating architectural and urban heritage from the sociocultural point of view, which stands on the human asset of traditional sites such as the hawari of old Cairo. It analyzes the social practice of everyday life in one of the oldest Cairene hawari, Haret al Darb al Asfar. The focus is on architectural and spatial organization of outdoor and indoor spaces that coordinate the spatial practices of local community. A daily monitoring of people＇s activities and interviews was conducted in an investigation of how local people perceive their built environment between the house＇s interior and the outdoor shared space. It emerges that people construct their own field of private spheres according to complex patterns of daily activities that are not in line with the classical segregation between private and public in Islamic cities. This paper reports that the harah is basically a construct of social spheres that are organized spatially by the flexible development of individual buildings over time and in response to changes in individuals＇ needs and capabilities. In order to achieve sustainability in old urban quarters, the paper concludes, the focus should be directed towards the local organization of activities and a comprehensive upgrading of deteriorating buildings to match the changing needs of current population.

Stereotypes in a Foreign Language Classroom --Modifying Negative Attitudes to Enhance Foreign Language Learning

The aim of the paper is to present various aspects of the phenomenon of stereotyping in the context of FL （foreign language） learning and teaching and to discuss practical solutions to be used in a FL classroom to teach the worm about the worm by questioning the stereotypes learners have of other nations and languages. This paper is an attempt to present some ideas of FL teachers＇ role in developing students＇ socio-cultural competence with the aim of raising their cross-cultural awareness and questioning the stereotypes students bring into a FL classroom. The methodology used was an analysis of fragment of tape scripts from listening comprehension activities from a course book preparing Polish secondary students for the school leaving exam. The topics discussed concern opinions about attitudes towards and judgments of various cultural aspects, be it drinking tea or discussing the weather, impressions people have about other nations, or languages people speak.

The 1787 Drama Dictionary as an Instrument of Enlightenment in Imperial Russia

The Russian theatre has not been neglected in the studies on theatre history, literary criticism and dramatic arts. The paper attempts to have a look at the 1787 Drama Dictionary, the first theatre reference book published in the country （with a very long Russian title containing 35 words） as a cultural product of the Enlightenment Age produced by its representative. In the introduction to the dictionary the compiler says that the publication would help young people develop a taste for refined entertainment and reject violent leisure activities of the past, enjoy theatre and learn life moral lessons from it. He considers theatre as a powerful means of changing Russian society as has been demanded by the Enlightenment Age. The structural and sociocultural analyses of 1787 Drama Dictionary materials give us an insight into some ways of westernising Russian society through theatre and how this westernisation was reflected in the theatre terminology of the time. I have argued that Russian-European Relationships resulting in the westernisation of Russian theatre theory and practices went hand in hand with the Russian translation-adaptation of Western plays and adaptation of some Western cultural patterns of social thinking and behaviour without rejecting completely the national identity in newly-born Russian dramatic literature.

On the Riddle of ＂The Russian Sphinx＂

The aim of this article is to analyze one of the most recognized in the Russian intellectual-cultural tradition and Russians＇ social self-consciousness ways of identification of the nature of Russianness and Russia--and comprehend it in the category of the ＂Russian Sphinx＂. The Russian thinkers and writers discussing the nature of Russia often return to the motif of Sphinx. Opposed to its ancient Greek archetype-counterpart, ＂the Russian Sphinx＂ does not have to resort to intricate questions--he is a riddle himself. As I show and explain, the livelihood and dissemination of the Russia-Sphinx motif in the homeland of Dostoyevski are not incidental. This motif is a synthetic medium of many archetypal contents, which accurately articulate a set of traditional intuitions and imaginations held by the Russians and concerning the alleged essence, nature, or depth of ＂Russianness＂. To conclude, I demonstrate the need to make the people comprehending Russia in a similar way aware that the accompanying, the particular--in its basic framework a priori assumed by them--image of the Russian reality is de facto a correlate of their subjective cognitive intention.

The Conformity of University Accounting Education Curriculum to the Needs of the Labor Market in Romania

This study represents empirical research that aims to investigate how the labor market for the financial-accounting segment in Romania requires professional and personal skills developed within the accounting education curriculum in the Romanian universities of this profile, or these produce young practitioners inappropriate from the curricular point of view to the employers＇ demands. The study develops a statistical analysis of frequencies, aiming to find an importance stratification of the professional and personal characteristics in the employers＇ demands. The study groups the job advertisements into three categories： for financial accounting, managerial accounting and audit, and seeks to identify specific curriculum descriptors for these categories of professional development. At the same time, the study does a frequency analysis of curriculum descriptors and job execution, comparatively to the management jobs, attempting to do a hierarchy of professional and personal skills, depending on the wording of notices by employers. The conclusions of the report attempts to be a synthesis of the study assumptions results that lead to the idea that the curricular programs of the universities of this profile, though responding in terms of theoretical knowledge, should be extended in practice, but particularly in the personal skills development, which are defining in a competitive selection process.

革命老区英姿焕发 豫风楚韵别样江南——全国百家党报社长总编看信阳采风综述

2014年4月19日至20日,＂全国百家党报社长总编看信阳＂采风活动在河南信阳市举行。该活动由中国报业协会和中共信阳市委主办,中国报协党报分会、中共信阳市委宣传部和信阳日报社承办。