Christine Furedy

Garbage: exploring non-conventional options in Asian cities

Garbage: exploring non-conventional options in Asian cities describes community based waste management projects in Bangalore, Manila, Madras, Jakarta and Kathmandu and assesses their potential as alternatives to the increasingly ineffective conventional organization of residential solid waste services in Asian cities. Two case studies are attached: the first on street pickers in Calcutta slums, the second on a programme to support the renovation and sale of second-hand shoes in Delhi.

Resource-conserving traditions and waste disposal: The garbage farms and sewage-fed fisheries of Calcutta

Abstract In spite of its many waste disposal problems Calcutta is foremost among South Asian cities in the productive use of wastes. Natural processes and informal practices on the metropolitan fringe contribute significantly to waste treatment and promote recycling. The disposal/recycling system that has developed over a century operates with a minimum of technology and engineering. The nineteenth century origins of the garbage farms and sewagefed fisheries are sketched and the importance of the use of sewage and garbage in food production is assessed. The effects of encroaching urbanisation on the wetlands are noted. The paper argues the need for research and discussion of development alternatives for Asian metropolitan fringe areas.

Socio-political aspects of the recovery and recycling of urban wastes in Asia

Abstract The attitude of considering waste collection, disposal and recycling as largely technical matters has been counterproductive for Asian cities. Today, social and political considerations, such as the recognition of the role of scavengers, the organisation of informal workers and demands to enlarge the processes of decision making, are influencing solid waste management and may transform it more in the future than technical innovations. This paper notes some of the persisting dilemmas that arise with changing approaches to waste management and recycling and outlines research priorities in unexplored aspects of the handling and use of urban solid wastes. Emphasis is placed upon the widespread informal scavenging that takes place in Asian cities.

Socratic versus Sophistic Strains in the Teaching of Undergraduate Psychology: Implicit Conflicts Made Explicit

greater pool of experience and questions. More Important, however, their matur~ty is reflected in an awareness that the external forms of sclence, scholarship, and professional training both reflect and impart the deepest wisdom of the field. These forms can, and often do, prov~de avenues for achiev~ng that ephemeral right relation to th~ngs, the path by which the experience of education IS not far from the experience of awe or the esthetlc pleasure of creat~ng and discover~ng at the same time. And th~s IS not a path that skrrts the difficult, dry stretches of practice and preparatory labor. Thus, a curr~culum that drd not open up the long march of gradual mastery would block off the opportunities to make a real contribution and to ach~eve the heights of intellectual development. A curriculum that can address the developmental needs of conformist, cynical, autonomous, mature and all the remaining sorts of students could seem almost beyond the realm of possibility unless one looked again at the great teachers of the f~eld. Unless one not~ced w~th what grace the wrrting and teaching of such as Robert MacLoud. Rollo May, Gardner Murphy, and Robert Whlte move among all the aspects and demands of the field. ~t would all seem qulte imposs~ble Thelr use of the research I~terature, the~r creatrv~ty and their wisdom, are woven Into their acute sense of audience and self, and what might seem ~mpossible merges as the worthiest, but st111 reachable, goal for any teacher In the field

My First Interest Is Interest

The quotation of the title is not simply a young man’s clever aphorism. It became, for Daniel E. Berlyne, a motto for a life of scientific research. It cannot be found in the voluminous published works which Berlyne completed in his tragically truncated academic career, but we know that he repeated it many times at the outset of his career from the independent recall of academic friends. There is every reason to believe that it continued to be a guiding maxim for the rest of his life. We can regard it as one modern psychologist’s equivalent of the dictum of Socrates that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”

On Strengthening the Socratic Strain in Higher Education

A questioning, critical attitude—the Socratic strain—is accepted as essential in higher education, but it has been subject to little effective examination. This paper begins by considering the role of Socrates in the distinction between higher education and indoctrinational or merely instructional education. The place of critical thinking in the modern university is discussed, followed by a consideration of some specific approaches to teaching that may promote critical thinking. Finally, there is an outline of some ideas for research on the Socratic strain in higher education.

Teaching Undergraduates the Philosophy of Psychology: The Method of Criticized Introspection.

used with groups are carefully gone over by the Instructor before they are used and the group experience IS debriefed with the Instructor In all but a few cases there IS also feedback from the agency or group request~ng the servlces The elghth goal was to have each student run a varlety of structured groups Several of the groups to be run are typ~cal ly short (I e two hours) only one of them needs to be SIX to e~gh t two-hour sesslons To have t h ~ s much actlvlty on the part of a class requlres that the Instructor in the course have a cons~derable number of commun~ty contacts where someone IS w l l l~ng to accept students comlng lnto thelr sett~ngs and work~ng w ~ t h the~r clients Th~rty-one contacts w ~ t h organlzat~ons were made for groups t h ~ s prevlous semester The most frequently requested groups are Interpersonal and soc~a l sk~l ls (1 I ) stress management (9) bas~c he lp~ng skllls or lnterview~ng skills tralnlng (8) assertion tralnlng (7) decls~on mak~ng sk~ l ls (6) With thls many students (or even fewer) certa~n caut~ons are needed In teach~ng thls course (a) the Instructor needs to allow students In by permlsslon only and screen carefully (b) In mak~ng teams less experlenced students should be placed w ~ t h more experlenced students (c) the Instructor needs to go over carefully the structured experiences wh~ch w ~ l l be used w ~ t h a group (d) process w ~ t h the team of students who have just run a group the~r eactions to and evaluatlon of what happened In the group (e) the Instructor needs to make ample tlme available to consult w ~ t h students so that d~fflcultres can be Ironed out as they develop in the longer sesslons

Development of Modern Elite Retailing in Calcutta, 1880-19201

In the commercial sector of British colonial economies, special business forms evolved to serve the purposes of colonial trade. In India, the managing agency became the predominant commercial enterprise.s In contrast to this specialized evolution, the British-owned retail trade was initially a simple import: retail businesses were established following the model of British shops, even though the early tradesmen were permitted to operate by the East India Company only under a bond system.f However, the peculiar conditions of society and economy in India soon called forth adaptations in the growing retail sectors so that colonial retail trading developed distinctive features. The large and stable retail firms which dominated the elite retailing in British India became a variant form of business organization although they shared many features of elite shops everywhere. Their characteristics and the role they played in the colonial economy and society have never been researched. This paper explores important aspects of these shops, concentrating on those located in Calcutta. The emphasis is upon the distinctive features of these businesses and some peculiar problems they faced in operating in the colonial environment. The major features of the modern elite retail sector were consolidatcd between approximately 1880 and 1920 and a number of leading firms changed little until Indias independence enforced radical changes in aspects of their trade. This paper uses the elite retail trade of Calcutta to demonstrate important aspects of the modern retailing in colonial India because that city was indisputably the centre of European retailing in India in the 19th century. There, the oldest, the largest and the most prestigious of the

Daniel Berlyne and psychonomy: The beat of a different drum

Daniel Berlyne’s work influences many members of the Society: Yet in many respects, he was not a typical psychonome. We are researching a biography of Berlyne, and this paper presents some early working hypotheses for comment and criticisms of psychonomes who knew him or his work.