Suchergebnisse

The 6th International Week of Science, Technology and Innovation, is an event organized by Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander Cúcuta and Ocaña, aimed at the academic - scientific community and the productive sectors of the region, whose purpose is the dissemination of the advances in research and extension of institutions of the National and International scope, through research groups and seedbeds, promoting the participation of the productive sectors in research, extension, technological development and innovation activities that strengthen the University - Company - State relationship and the exchange of experiences with researchers from the National and International level. ; La VI Semana Internacional de la Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, es un evento organizado por la Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander Cúcuta y Ocaña, dirigido a la comunidad académico - científica y los sectores productivos de la región, cuyo propósito es la difusión de los avances en investigación. y extensión de instituciones del ámbito Nacional e Internacional, a través de grupos de investigación y semillero, promoviendo la participación de los sectores productivos en actividades de investigación, extensión, desarrollo tecnológico e innovación que fortalezcan la relación Universidad - Empresa - Estado y el intercambio de experiencias con investigadores desde el nivel Nacional e Internacional. ; Programación Aplicación de la metodología de valorización del estado organizacional veo asociada al modelo de acompañamiento rural de la escuela de liderazgo, asociatividad y desarrollo comunitario eladc en norte de santander Apoyo a la internacionalización del sector cacao en norte de santander a través de establecer estrategias de posicionamiento y protección de la marca somos cacao s.a.s. con base en las certificaciones requeridas por el gobierno de colombia Costos de producción: innovaciones y prácticas estratégicas de las mipymes manufactureras Cultura y obligaciones tributarias: un análisis en el sector comercial El impacto de marketing digital en la competitividad las empresas del sector de restaurantes en la ciudad de cúcuta y su área metropolitana El manejo de personal ante la actitud hacia el compromiso organizacional en las empresas del sector hotelero de cúcuta colombia Estrategias laborales de utilización del tiempo libre para estudiantes ufps Fundamentos conceptuales de la estrategia en los negocios internacionales: caso café galavis, cúcuta, colombia Modelo de evaluación externa para la cadena de valor de cacao en norte de santander San cayetano, un destino turistico en norte de santander desde el marketing social Sucesión generacional de las empresas familiares. una mirada desde la literatura mototaxism as an occupational alternative to unemployment Lineamientos pedagógicos para la formación del contador público en la gestión ambiental, desde la accion docente Videoclip como herramienta de promoción turística, caso: municipio de arboledas, norte de santander Análisis del rol de las mujeres administrativas en la resolución de conflictos del sector cooperativo en ocaña, norte de santander Diagnóstico de capacidades emprendedoras con enfoque de economia naranja en aprendices sena cedrum Incidencia del uso de las tic en los resultados académicos La nueva competencia geopolítica por el cáucaso sur y sus complejos conflictos internos Análisis socio-económico de las comunidades indígenas y rom reconocidas por la alcaldía municipal de san josé de cúcuta Auditoria forense, técnica esencial en la prevención de contravenciones en el manejo financiero del sector bancario de ocaña Caracterización del desempeño financiero en las empresas del sector hotelero en el municipio de san josé de cúcuta-colombia para los periodos 2014-2017 Certificación halal como estrategia de internacionalización de productos agrícolas de norte de santander El perfil del emprendedor en tiempo de crisis Estandarización de procesos administrativos y operativos en la fabricación de productos textiles bajo el paradigma de los manuales de procedimientos Impacto socio-económico, político y ambiental de los asentamientos humanos en la periferia de la ciudad Inversiones sostenibles: agroecoturismo Representaciones sociales de los modelos gerenciales que poseen los empresarios de los clubes deportivos de fútbol de la ciudad de cúcuta – norte de santander Panorama actual de la educación superior a distancia en iberoamérica Realidad socioeconómica de la población migratoria venezolana en cúcuta Gestión del conocimiento como estrategia competitiva en las organizaciones entre colombia- finlandia Estudios de la inteligencia sobre la educación para la innovación El proceso de enseñanza en las ciencias contables de la ufps-cucuta La innovación como elemento competitivo de las organizaciones de china La economía sostenible como factor crucial de la localización de plantas industriales en colombia Apropiación y construcción territorial campesina en el catatumbo: zona de reserva campesina y territorios agroalimentarios campesinos Caracterización de semillas con especies nativas propias del catatumbo como eje estratégico para la conservación y manejo agroecológico de la zona Evaluación del endocarpio de coco (cocos nucifera) como sustrato en el cultivo de orellana (pleurotus ostreatus) en el municipio de villa del rosario, norte de santander Propiedades mecánicas del adobe mejorado con cal y ceniza volante, como empleo en ladrillos de construcción ambientalmente sostenible en tierra Reconstrucción de series de tiempo de precipitación mensual en clima tropical Estructura de los escarabajos coprófagos en la evaluación del estado de conservación en el bosque seco del jardín botánico jorge enrique quintero arenas de la universidad francisco de paula santander ocaña Calidad del agua en la producción de las unidades piscícolas en los municipios del zulia, san cayetano y villa del rosario Comparación de sistemas de evaluación seminal en el parámetro de motilidad (sca® versus imagej®) en semen porcino Diagnóstico de sistemas de producción caprino en el área metropolitana de cúcuta (norte de santander) Efecto de diferentes niveles de inclusión de harina de chachafruto (erythrina edulis), sobre el desempeño productivo y la sobrevivencia de juveniles de cachama negra (colossoma macropomum) Elaboración y caracterización fisicoquímica de la harina de banano bocadillo (musaaa simmonds) Estandarización de diferentes concentrados de sucrosa. en la vitrificación de semen ovino Evaluación de la viabilidad de semillas de capsicum annuum usando la prueba de tetrazolio Identificación de factores que han conllevado a la disminución del rebaño caprino en el área metropolitana de cúcuta Integración de datos georreferenciados, multiescala y multidisciplinares para caracterizar espacialmente la respuesta fenotípica del caballo criollo de la orinoquía La apicultura como estrategia de conservación de la biodiversidad y alternativa productiva de la ganadería doble propósito con uso de sistemas silvopastoriles del bosque seco tropical Uso de la analítica de datos en el estudio epidemiológico de la fiebre aftosa. aplicación en el departamento del cesar Conservación del caballo criollo de la orinoquía y desarrollo de una línea de caballo de tropa para el ejército nacional de colombia Determinación de la edad óptima de pastoreo para la estrella africana (cynodon plectostachyus) en un sistema lechero tropical. Diseño de una planta de producción de células bhk-21 para la obtención de la vacuna leucemia felina vlfe usando superpro designer Efecto del concentrado autólogo de plaquetas en las velocidades espermáticas en semen ovino Evaluación de la funcionalidad del almidon de arracacha (arracacia xanthorrhiza) en galletas tipos finas Evaluación de los impactos ambientales derivados de la actividad de minería de arcilla o carbón a partir de una propuesta metodológica Evaluación ex ante de un proyecto de conservación y desarrollo a partir de "pseudognaphalium" (vira vira) en bogotá-colombia Impacto de los extremos de variabilidad climática en la comunidad de macroinvertebrados acuáticos en el cauce principal del río pamplonita en el periodo (2000 – 2014) Impactos agropecuarios en el catatumbo ocacionados por la conflictividad social pre-factibilidad de la producción de bioplástico a partir de almidón extraido de cáscaras de platanos por fermentación aerobia del hongo rizophus oryzae Validación de la metodologia para la estimacion de la biomasa total de la vegetacion arborea de la comuna 9 del municipio san josé de cucuta Simulación de un bioproceso a escala industrial para la producción del hongo medicinal ganoderma lucidum mediante la herramienta computacional superpro designer Simulación mediante cfd de la hidrodinámicagenerada por una turbina rushton a diferentes velocidades de agitación en fluidos no-newtonianos Sensibilidad de plantas de tomate a salinidad por nacl y fusarium oxysporum Evaluación de las propiedades fisicoquímicas, microbiológicas y organoléptica de de cupcakes apartir de moringa stevia y cocoa. Aislamiento e identificacion de cepas nativas productoras de exopolisacaridos a partir de productos autoctonos arnr 16s como herramienta aplicada en la caracterización molecular de géneros y especies de bacterias Aspectos a tener en cuenta en el proceso de vigilancia epidemiologica relacionada con el riesgo biológico Biodegradabilidad y toxicidad de lixiviados de rellenos sanitarios tratados por fotocatálisis heterogénea, usando tio2 en un colector parabólico compuesto Concentración de cultivos microalgales empleando un electroflotador open-access . Efecto de la altitud y tamaño de explotaciones ganaderas sobre aspectos productivos y reproductivos en la region sur-occidental de norte de santander Efecto de la fuente de carbono en un proceso de fijación biológica de nitrógeno utilizando efluentes piscicolas Estimación de la huella hídrica verde y azul en la producción de caña de azúcar (saccharum officinarum) orgánica. caso de estudio: zona centro del valle del cauca Estrategias de adaptación al cambio climático y de prevención ante la ocurrencia de desastres socio-naturales a partir de la percepción de los habitantes del municipio chitagá Evaluación de dos fuentes de calcio sobre parámetros de calidad de cascara del huevo en reproductoras cobb avian 48 en condiciones comerciales Evaluación de la capacidad de biorremediación de aguas postconsumo de piscicultura mediante el uso de microalgas y cianobacterias Evaluación de la toxicidad de extractos de plantas medicinales contra spodoptera exigua Evaluación de un sistema de riego automatizado para el control de humedad en el proceso de compostaje Evaluación del bienestar animal en proyecto piscicola de la universidad francisco de paula santander ocaña Evaluación del sistema de tratamiento agua potable san fernando – eficiencia y calidad Identificación del potencial agroindustrial del municipio de tibú desde indicadores del desarrollo sostenible Inducción de genes pr1 y mpk1 asociados a resistencia en papaya inoculada con prsv Medición del bienestar animal en el aprisco de la granja experimental de la universidad francisco de paula santander ocaña, mediante el protocolo welfare quality® Medición del bienestar animal en el sistema de producción avícola de la granja experimental de la universidad francisco de paula santander ocaña ufpso, mediante el protocolo welfare quality® Microorganismos rizosféricos asociados al ciclo del carbono en el cultivo de arroz, norte de santander Potencial biotecnológico de una cepa de oscillatoria sp termotolerante para la producción de colorantes Protocolo de cosecha y determinacion de metabolitos de interes industrial en microalgas Protocolo para el mantenimiento de cepas y escalamiento en la producción de microalgas de interés industrial Protocolo para la bioprospección eficiente de microalgas y cianobacterias termotolerantes Protocolo para la extracción de ficobiliproteínas (apc, c-pc, pe) de cianobacterias termotolerantes Sostenibilidad y responsabilidad social: factor determinante de buenas prácticas en el sector microempresarial, ocaña-colombia Tratamiento de aguas contaminadas con glifosato utilizando electrocoagulación Elaboración de yogurt funcional a partir de remolacha (beta vulgaris) y leche ultrasonificada Solución por métodos numéricos de la ecuación del calor asociada a la transferencia térmica en polímeros Caracterización mineralógica de material arcilloso de la formación guayabo a diferentes por difracción de rayos x Impacto de la interdisciplinariedad en las investigaciones científicas Análisis descriptivo de las concepciones sobre storytelling en matemáticas Historia de las vías férreas de cúcuta, en el currículo de matemática financiera Impacto del programa jóvenes en acción en la formacion inicial de educadores en matematicas Efecto de la velocidad de centrifugado sobre las propiedades anticorrosivas de los recubrimientos de bismuto-titanio obtenidos vía sol-gel en sustratos de 316l Análisis térmico, ftir-atr y frx de nidos de avispas de colombia Comportamiento térmico de las cenizas de carbón provenientes de la combustión en hornos colmena y su potencial uso como nutriente tecnológico en la elaboración de bloques cerámicos extruídos Factores actitudinales de los estudiantes que inciden en la enseñanza del calculo diferencial bajo el enfoque ontosemiótico Variables críticas que condicionan la competitividad de la cerámica artesanal en norte de santander bajo la dinámica de su cadena productiva Evaluación en laboratorio del grado de infección de burkholderia glumae en semillas de arroz Valores y servicios ambientales de los árboles urbanos desde el enfoque de la purificación del aire Análisis del recurso solar y eólico en tres zonas específicas del departamento de norte de santander Desarrollo experimental de mezclas para la obtención de materiales compuestos de suelo cemento y residuos de demolición, conformados a través de prensa manual: una alternativa para la sostenibilidad a partir del reuso de materiales de construcción La participacion y el dialogo en la construccion de paz territorial Medición de la calidad y eficacia de la participación ciudadana en el catatumbo con aplicación de la metodología siriri (alianza ufpso-fip) Aprendizaje basado en problemas (abp) para el desarrollo de competencias científicas en biología Objetivos para garantizar la efectividad del principio de oportunidad en colombia El exodo transfronterizo: y el cambio en las dinámicas sociales, economicas y politicas -municipio de cúcuta-san antonio (estado táchira) Módulo de refugio temporal madera pet + acero reciclado: ensambles mpet+ar Factores asociados a las pruebas saber 11° en las instituciones educativas del municipio de pamplona Análisis del cumplimiento del enfoque de gestión responsable desde la perspectiva de los sistemas de gestión de calidad y ambiental Estudio comparativo de la aplicación de tecnologías colaborativas en el desarrollo de ambientes de aprendizaje Evaluación del ova big toy, herramienta para la enseñanza del ingles en niños de primaria Imaginarios sobre ciudadanía de frontera: un abordaje desde las distintas miradas de los sectores sociales que convergen en la ciudad cúcuta El uso de las tic y su inclusión en las prácticas pedagógicas de los docentes del programa de enfermería ufps Caracteres multiculturales e intuicionistas del emprendimiento en la ciudad fronteriza san josé de cúcuta y los signos de enfoque diferencial para la administración local Hipótesis normativa para una eficaz protección del medio ambiente en colombia Narrativa visual de la migración de venezolanos, caso: puentes internacionales francisco de paula santander y simón bolivar Incorporación de los sistemas educativos lego y fischer technik como recursos de juego didácticos en la enseñanza de la matemática en grados séptimo del colegio isidro caballero delgado del municipio de floridablanca en santander colombia El concepto de inclusión en la educacion superior: acciones demostrativas y buenas prácticas. caso de estudio, institución francisco de paula santander Animación digital como herramienta para el aprendizaje de niños con discapacidad auditiva, caso: cuentos y fábulas infantiles Estrategias de intervención en el proceso "enseñanza de la historia" museo casa natal del general francisco de paula santander Software educativo para el apoyo del aprendizaje de la asignatura fundamentos de programación Las nuevas dinamicas de la movilidad humana en la frontera colombo-venezolana caso: venezolanos El uso de instagram como herramienta de branding en las empresas de calzado en norte de santander Percepciones de los migrantes fronterizos sobre su representación mediática en los contenidos informativos emitidos por canales de televisión nacionales La arcilla y su influencia en la arquitectura representativa del sector centro como elementos de identidad de la ciudad de san josé de cúcuta Reconstrucción de la memoria histórica en el catatumbo a partir de la producción audiovisual sobre la masacre de santa inés, vegas de motilonia y planadas el 24 y 25 de diciembre de 2004 Análisis del contexto del aula para fortalecer las habilidades integradas en inglés como lengua extranjera a través de la enseñanza basada en tareas en el grado séptimo de la institución educativa integrado juan atalaya Eficacia de la ley 1561 de 2012 para otorgar títulos de propiedad al poseedor material de bienes inmuebles urbanos y rurales y sanear la falsa tradición en el municipio de cúcuta De la práctica y la investigación a los syllabus en ingeniería. Una experiencia de actualización permanente de la cátedra. La investigación formativa como desafío en la educación superior. caso: semillero de investigación en mantenimiento – universidad francisco de paula santander Práctica pedagógica de los docentes y las competencias y procesos matemáticos de los estudiantes en educación media y superior: alineación mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales Factores que influyen en el bienestar y satifaccion en la vida de los inmigrantes en la zona de frontera Desde el enfoque socio crítico: el restablecimiento de los derechos de los estudiantes en condición de víctimas de las instituciones educativas del municipio de san josé de cúcuta, norte de santander 2018-2019 Vacíos de protección y riesgos psicosociales en el marco de la migración venezolana: un análisis desde lo documental Incidencia en la seguridad personal frente a la regulación de los delitos informáticos en la universidad de pamplona sede villa del rosario Estrategia socioeducativa para la prevención del dengue en el municipio de los patios Permanencia académica en un grupo de estudiantes de la universidad francisco de paula santander Las barreras en el acceso a la justicia para las mujeres victimas del conflicto en norte de santander. El caso de la fundación myriam castrillón Comisiones de la verdad y derecho a la verdad en la jurisprudencia de la corte interamericana de derechos humanos La incidencia de las dinámicas urbanas y territoriales en la transformación de la ciudad. el caso de la avenida 1 éste de la ciudad de san josé de cúcuta La comunicación como acción de motivación-productividad en las organizaciones Rendimiento académico en matemáticas y objetos interactivos de aprendizaje-oia Implicaciones sociales del celular en la vida cotidiana de los jóvenes universitarios Estudio de la compactación con calor aplicada sobre fardos de paja para el diseño de soluciones constructivas estructurales Consulta popular minera y competencias de las entidades territoriales (muncipios) La pérdida de oportunidad en la responsabilidad médica del estado Derechos humanos y resocialización en colombia: una cuestión de política criminal Modelo pedagógico transdisciplinario en las carreras de ciencias administrativas y económicas: un cambio de paradigma Una mirada a las concepciones sobre la formación docente: programa de licenciatura en educación infantil. Corporación universitaria minuto de dios – Colombia Análisis de la percepción que presentan los docentes, administrativos y estudiantes de la universidad de pamplona sobre la rsu en sus ejes: campus responsable, formación profesional y ciudadana, gestión social del conocimiento y participación social Transformaciones de la dinámica de familias venezolanas asistidos por la propuesta la casita solidaria Construcción de cultura y territorio en el municipio de tibú por jóvenes víctimas del conflicto Percepción de la discriminación por razones de orientación sexual en estudiantes de trabajo social en la ufps cúcuta Catálogo arquimod (ver lo que hemos sido capaces de hacer) Excepción de inconstitucionalidad frente a la conservación de la supremacía constitucional en colombia Energía renovable para la población vulnerable del barrio el paramo en el municipio villa del rosario estudio de la eficacia de la defensa ejercida por los defensores publicos en los procesos penales en el municipio de villa del rosario análisis desde el principio del enfoque diferencial de las mujeres trabajadoras sexuales migrantes en el municipio de cúcuta y zona de frontera niños y niñas migrantes en zona de frontera e inclusión en las instituciones educativas en el municipio de san jose de cùcuta análisis jurisprudencial en relación de los derechos humanos en la población migrante venezolana región del catatumbo: almas atrapadas entre las memorias del olvido y el dolor población migrante entre fronteras analisis de la transculturación y adaptación de los migrantes venezolanos en el municipio de san josé de san josé de cúcuta realidad fronteriza e impacto social de la migración de población venezolana en el municipio de san josé de cúcuta. (2016-2018) el impacto de la salud pública en las mujeres migrantes de venezuela en estado de gestación en el municipio san josé de cúcuta en el año 2016-2019 liderazgos de las mujeres gramaloteras a partir del proceso de reasentamiento al nuevo casco urbano formación de conciencia política en la niñez juguemos por la igualdad saberes de los yerbateros sobre medicina tradicional en el municipio de cúcuta durante el primer semestre del 2020 la restitución de tierras como reparación transformadora en la construcción de paz 437 estrategia educomunicativa para la prevención del acoso escolar en el colegio instituto técnico patios centro 2-sede patios centro uno uso de la guadua para viviendas de interés social frente a sistemas constructivos tradicionales en la ciudad de cúcuta heterotópia de género: reflexiones desde las mujeres trabajadores informales avances teórico-metodológicos del estudio de factores asociados a los resultados de las pruebas saber pro en los estudiantes de ingenieria civil de la ufps reconstrucción de memoria histórica de las mujeres desplazadas en el barrio ciudad rodeo, cúcuta, mediante la elaboración de un monumento representativo optimización estructural y arquitectónica desde lógicas topológicas a soluciones constructivas de arquitectura en tierra reconstrucción de memoria histórica a través de la creación del libro de relatos para narrar las experiencias de vida de las mujeres víctimas del conflicto armado residentes en el barrio ciudad rodeo, cúcuta-colombia estado del arte de instrumentos de evaluación sobre estilos de aprendizaje en publicaciones científicas internacionales protección a los derechos colectivos y del ambiente en villa del rosario y cúcuta frente a la emisión de agentes contaminantes por el transporte público responsabilidad estatal frente a la vulneración de los derechos humanos a mujeres víctimas de violencia sexual en el conflicto armado interno en colombia mineria tradiconal una mineria especial proteccion laboral a pastores y religiosos revisión de literatura sobre computación cuántica aplicada propuesta de un laboratorio steam bajo el enfoque industria 4.0 en la ufps sistema de control de un estacionamiento basado en tecnología rfid comparacion de momentos flectores producidos por carga gravitacional en losas de concreto reforzado armadas en dos direcciones obtenidos por diferentes metodos de analisis prototipo para la adquisición de señales cardiacas aplicaciones alternativas ambientalmente sustentables del carbón de norte de santander recubrimientos de dioxido de titanio mediante rf-magnetron sputtering sobre sustratos geopolimericos a base de metacaolines automatización de un sistema hidropónico nft para la optimización de la producción de hortalizas de hoja en la casa rural villa fonseca del municipio de salazar de las palmas n. de s. herramientas y algoritmo para la identificación de personas con procesamiento de señales cálculo del valor de variación del asentamiento de consolidación por efecto de modificación de cargas estructurales en zona de amenaza sísmica alta. caso de estudio: san jose de cucuta, colombia diseño e implementación de un banco para la detección de fallas en motores trifásicos mediante el uso de inteligencia artificial estudio comparativo de modelos empíricos para el cálculo de la evapotranspiración potencial en la región andina colombiana diseño y analisis de transductores fotonicos para aplicaciones de biosensado extracción de características sobre regiones de interés en mamogramas digitales adaptación de una bacteria nativa compatible con acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans y acidithiobacillus thiooxidans para desulfurar carbón a nivel de laboratorio análisis de variables ambientales para el diseño de circuitos de medición para sistemas solares fotovoltaicos análisis de un escenario de radio sobre fibra como propuesta para soportar los requerimientos de la red 5g software de reconocimiento facial para el control de acceso del personal a los laboratorios de investigación del programa de ingeniería de sistemas de la universidad francisco de paula santander prototipo de un panel modular compuesto a partir de calcín y grafeno, para la configuración arquitectónica de una envolvente pivotante captadora de energía diseño del sistema de riego auto-suficiente y sostenible para zonas verdes en la universidad francisco de paula santander, mediante el uso del software arduino y labview modelo dinámico lineal y no lineal de un dedo robótico para una prótesis de mano modelación y simulación hidráulica de las zonas de desbordamiento de la quebrada tanauca mediante hec-ras en la provincia de pamplona, norte de santander diseño, desarrollo e integración de un chatbot en organizaciones para la mejora en la atención usando inteligencia artificial como servicio en la nube diseño de protesis transfemoral mecanica graduable responsabilidad social empresarial como estrategia de impulso al emprendimiento e innovación en la ciudad de san josé de cúcuta condiciones de vulnerabilidad del contexto socioeducativo de la región del catatumbo que inciden en el aprendizaje de las matemáticas percepción social de estudiantes con discapacidad auditiva y sus docentes sobre la educación inclusiva en una universidad privada de cúcuta el deporte como una herramienta para la construcción de paz territorial en el pos-acuerdo de paz, en cúcuta zeolitas sódicas y potásicas a partir de cenizas volantes provenientes de la combustión del carbón de la termoeléctrica termotasajero s.a.s estudio para la viabilidad de una zona franca en áreas del posconflicto en el municipio de ocaña, norte de santander estudio sobre el impacto del consumo de energía en las ips de san josé de cúcuta desde el análisis del plan de uso eficiente de ahorro de energía implementado tratado de integración progresista de asociación transpacífico (cptpp) evolución e implicaciones para colombia dentro del contexto de inversión aplicación de un sistema de realidad virtual para la práctica en los procesos de importación y exportación en los estudiantes de comercio internacional de la ufps oportunidad de los supermercados y almacenes de cadena instalados en cúcuta por la crisis venezolana la efectividad de la legislación y desarrollo reglamentario en el progreso fronterizo cucuteño situación actual de la zona franca-cucuta como alternativa de productividad para la generacion de empleo las buenas prácticas para la internacionalización de la miel de abeja de asoarimaan oferta exportable del municipio de teorama del departamento de norte de santander como alternativa para el desarrollo socieconómico retos y oportunidades del sector agricola de norte de santander en el mercado asiatico plan de internacionalización para la miel producida por la asociación asoarimaan del corregimiento buena esperanza, municipio de cúcuta comercio internacional de norte de santander y santander frente a las políticas comerciales colombianas después de la salida de venezuela de la comunidad andina de naciones entre 2006-2018 caracterización del sector mipymes formal e informal de la ciudad de san josé de cúcuta evaluación de las propiedades fisicoquímica del caliz de la physalis peruviana (uchuva) en la elaboración de ungüento antiinflamatorio establecimiento de un cultivo de scenedesmus sp en fotobioreactores de 2 l para la producción de carotenoides de interés comercial a partir de efluentes piscicolas análisis de la tasa de cambio en la cobertura natural presente en la ronda hídrica del río pamplonita en su paso por el casco urbano del municipio de cúcuta microencapsulación mediante secado por aspersión del aceite contenido de las hojas de mora (rubus glaucus) diseño experimental para la cuantificación de biomasa aérea a partir de ecuaciones alométricas en ecosistemas de bosque muy seco tropical, sometidos a baja intervención antrópica validacion del software open casa, sperm motility track v. 1.0 y bgm de imagej en semen de porcino evaluación del efecto de la composición del medio de cultivo sobre la propagación in vitro de híbridos de phalaenopsis determinación de la calidad fisiológica de la semillas de linum usitatissimum l. utilizando el test de tetrazolio pisum sativum un bioindicador eficaz para evaluar el efecto citotoxico del hipoclorito de sodio factores de riesgo relacionados con la adherencia al tratamiento en pacientes con hipertensión arterial, centro de salud once de noviembre calidad de vida del cuidador informal del paciente con alzheimer de la clínica stella maris de cúcuta en el primer semestre del año 2019 percepción de la eutanasia en docentes de la universidad francisco de paula santander durante el segundo semestre del 2019 diseño y aplicación de un programa de intervención en seguridad y salud en el trabajo, basado en los factores de riesgos laborales, en salones de belleza / peluquerías de cúcuta 2019 autoconcepto en adolescentes una mirada desde la migración - ii semestre de 2018 y i semestre de 2019 construcción de un sistema automatizado para conformar equipos de trabajo definición de los parámetros para el diseño de un prototipo clasificador de tipos de mente beneficios del pensamiento triádico en los estudiantes de ingeniería mecánica de la universidad francisco de paula santander, ocaña identificación del tipo de mente de los estudiantes de primer semestre de ingeniería civil mediante el pensamiento tríadico en la universidad francisco de paula santander ocaña límites a la libertad de prensa en el municipio de ocaña, norte de santander dificultades de aprendizaje alrededor del algebra elemental en estudiantes de octavo grado actitudes y creencias de estudiantes de matemáticas y su correlación con el uso de las tic análisis de optimización topológica aplicada a espacios arquitectónicos. diseño desde la teoría de grafos enseñanza del concepto de derivada: una propuesta desde la ingeniería didáctica fortalecimiento del programa de prevención de la violencia escolar e intrafamiliar a través de la ejecución del proyecto mediadores en resolución de conflictos perteneciente a la casa de justicia barrio la libertad en las instituciones educativas simón bolívar y misael pastrana borrero de san josé de cúcuta incidencia en la seguridad personal frente a la regulación de los delitos informáticos en la universidad de pamplona sede villa del rosario política de participación social en salud (ppss) desde las competencias ciudadanas como herramienta para la gestión pública de programas y servicios de la e.s.e hospital universitario erasmo meoz representaciones gráficas de una función, ¿ayuda o problema en los jóvenes universitarios? una mirada al contexto penitenciario de las fuerzas militares, estudio de caso: trigésima brigada del ejército nacional de colombia (brigada treinta) felicidad y autoestima como bases esenciales para el desarrollo personal de los estudiantes del colegio universitario san carlos factores que influyen en el bienestar y satifaccion en la vida de los inmigrantes en la zona de frontera estrés laboral en las madres cabezas de hogar vinculadas al comercio informal en cúcuta norte de santander diseño de un estetoscopio digital para el análisis de taquicardia supraventricular analisis de calidad en el ciclo combinado buscando aprovechar el calor residual y control de agentes contaminantes analisis de estructuras de disipacion de energia para mitigar el impacto producido por flujo de avalanchas análisis del desempeño mecánico y de porosidad de una matriz de concreto reforzado con diferentes porcentajes de fibras de tereftalato de polietileno (pet) reciclado caracterizacion de las curvas de un motor de ignicion por compresion a diferentes factores de operación caracterizacion de sistemas de desarrollo esp32 para adquisicion de datos caracterización termo-física y mecánica de un cemento geopolimérico a base de cenizas volantes para diferentes relaciones si/al control de conmutación de baterías para un sistema de carga y descarga elaboración de un pan funcional a partir de harina de centeno (secale cereale) con adición de cúrcuma (curcuma longa) evaluación de la eficiencia de un sistema de refrigeración que opera con distintos refrigerantes evaluación de las propiedades mecánicas, morfológicas y estructurales de tabletas cerámicas con y sin recubrimiento de magnetita usando proyección térmica oxiacetilanica prototipo de cerradura electrónica para el control de acceso mediante huella dactilar y rfid prototipo electrónico para la actualización del sistema de desarrollo "de lorenzo dl3155e24" recubrimientos de poliestireno postconsumo para modificacion de tension superficial 547 rediseño y simulación del rodete y los alabes de la turbina pelton de la universidad francisco de paula santander sistema de cultivo hidropónico semiautónomo diseño e implementación de un sistema de caracterización de un transistor fet con interfaz gráfica de usuario en matlab sistema integrado de desplazamiento entre zanjas basado en sistemas embedidos diseño e implementacion de un sistema de caracterización de dispositivos electrónicos de tres terminales para la medición de la capacitancias internas cπ y cμ caracterización de genes productores de proteasas y quitinasas de hongos entomopatógenos aislados de suelo a caracterización fisicoquimica del raquis de palma de aceite para su aplicación en el uso de nuevos productos agroindustriales efecto de la adición de concentrado autólogo de plaquetas sobre las subpoblaciones espermáticas en semen ovino remocion de coliformes totales y fecales presentes en agua mediante la aplicación de nano particulas de plata tratamiento de aguas contaminadas con glifosato utilizando electrocoagulación utilización de tierras diatomáceas recicladas de la industria cervecera como medio de transporte de macronutrientes estandarización de procesos administrativos y operativos en la fabricación de productos textiles bajo el paradigma de los manuales de procedimientos factores de apoyo social en los pacientes con trastorno bipolar, episodio depresivo sin síntomas psicóticos, en una clínica de la ciudad en el último trimestre del año 2018 selección de un nuevo material refractario determinación del efecto de los fragmentos de bosque urbano sobre el co2 producido por las fuentes móviles en el municipio de ocaña norte de santander desarrollo de una mezcla asfáltica reciclada (rap) en cúcuta analisis comparativo de los tipos de pretratamientos usados en el bagazo de la caña de azúcar diseño de un modelo de gestion de logistica inversa en el sector de muebles en la ciudad de san jose de cúcuta y el área metropolitana identificación de la avifauna, tomando como criterio taxonómico el canto influencia del uso del grano de caucho triturado (gcr) sobre la resistencia bajo carga monotónica en una mezcla drenante caracterización morfológica y térmica de cerámica plastica modelado de la gestión del conocimiento en docencia universitaria empleando dinámica de sistemas desarrollo de un sistema de supervisión de las variables de temperatura, presión y humedad en un biodigestor con el fin de visualizar el balance de energía de la ufpso diseño de la estrategia de control de una celda electrolítica para producir hho como combustible complementario desarrollo de un sistema automatizado para el banco de prueba de soldadura mig modelo numérico de detección de fugas para sistema de tuberias evaluación de un sistema de comunicaciones óptico modulado en desplazamiento de fase empleando multiplexación por división de frecuencia estrategias de producción limpia para las empresas del sector cerámico del área metropolitana de cúcuta aplicación móvil de reconocimiento óptico de caracteres (ocr) en el proceso de tabulación de registro de información de la asociación de padres de hogares comunitarios de bienestar familiar de la comuna siete de san josé de cúcuta análisis de volátiles en el proceso de fermentado de cacao, mediante el uso de una matriz multisensorial o nariz electrónica para el control de calidad del producto en norte de santander cúcuta procesamiento de datos implementado python para identificar clúster asociados a muestras de cacao seco sano e infectado con monilia en norte de santander análisis de la estructura intelectual y la evolución de la investigación en el concepto de universidad inteligente: un análisis bibliométrico modelado 3d aplicado a las plantas del vivero de la universidad francisco de paula santander ocaña análisis y control de humedad del suelo a través de un sistema soportado por sensores en el jardín botánico "jorge quintero arenas" de la universidad francisco de paula santander ocaña portable energy: desarrollo de un multigenerador eléctrico portátil a base de energía fotovoltaica y energía cinética efecto de la polaridad del solvente durante la electrodeposición de asfaltenos de petroleo extrapesado colombiano en presencia de un campo magnético y nanoparticulas magnéticas determinación del índice de compresión a partir de propiedades de plasticidad en los suelos cohesivos residuales de la ciudad de ocaña, norte de santander modelo dinámico lineal y no lineal de un dedo robótico para una prótesis de mano análisis y modelación del transito vehicular en las intersecciones semaforizadas de la avenida 10 del municipio de los patios, colombia gestion del alcance en proyectos de desarrollo de software desarrollo de una aplicación web para la asignación de citas, historias clínicas y facturación utilizando la metodología cmmi (capability maturity model integration) para el hospital de los patios técnicas de medición y análisis del fenómeno de envejecimiento en asfaltos y mezclas asfálticas análisis técnico y económico para evaluación de pavimento flexible entre método convencional y nueva tecnología desarrollo de un sistema embebido configurable para la adquisicíon y monitoreo de un proceso termico – neumatico utilizando una plataforma raspberry pi métodos para la recuperación de aceites lubricantes automotrices usados: revisión del estado de arte propuesta metodologica para la optimizacion de la producción en pequeñas empresas mineras de carbon en norte de santander diseño de un sistema de perfilación de férulas mediante el escaneo 3d de muñeca, brazo y tobillo para fines de impresión 3d evaluación de parámetros mecánicos y de durabilidad de una mezcla asfáltica tipo mdc-19 con inclusión de chamota como reemplazo en agregados de 3/8" simulación computacional del proceso de alivio de tensiones residuales en cilindros para glp identificación del tipo de mente de los estudiantes de primer semestre de ingeniería civil mediante el pensamiento tríadico en la universidad francisco de paula santander ocaña desarrollo e implementación con herramientas tecnológicas de la información y comunicación (tic) para dar solución a requerimiento a diferentes sectores empresariales recuperación de oro desde minerales refractarios auroargentíferos usando una bacteria nativa químicamente compatible con acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans bancas paramétricas [diseño generativo de mobiliario] validación del modelo matemático de una bomba centrífuga barnes de 0.25 hp análisis de componentes principales en cromatogramas para diagnósticar cáncer de próstata análisis de las redes neuronales artificiales en función de base radial para ser empleadas en la extracción de bordes de imágenes aéreas análisis y estimación de la radiación solar en la ciudad de cúcuta usando estadística inferencial aplicación web para la administración de la infraestructura de red y telecomunicaciones del campus central de la universidad francisco de paula santander en la sede cucuta determinación del índice de compresión a través de las propiedades de plasticidad de los suelos de la ciudad de ocaña, norte de santander caracterización del docente y el estudiante de educación superior en la planificación, dinámica de la clase y evaluación caracterización física y funcional del intercambiador de calor con fines de detección y diagnostico de fallos competencias gerenciales de los gerentes de las empresas de del sector ladrillero de villa del rosario como ventaja competitiva comunicación vía bluetooth para la emulación del control de un sistema de iluminación en proteus professional 8.1 a través de una aplicación móvil desarrollo de un prototipo mecatrónico con realimentación háptica para un simulador de actividades de entrenamiento de la cirugía laparoscópica en animales caninos diagnóstico y análisis del impacto social del uso de dos tipos de infraestructura de vivienda de tipo horizontal en poblaciones vulnerables caso de estudio, cúcuta, colombia diseño de envolventes arquitectónicas paramétricas diseño de un sistema de emulación de movimiento robotizado de mano de bajo costo diseño de un sistema de medición de material particulado mediante un vehículo aéreo no tripulado diseño de un sistema de percepción del impacto de choques mecánicos y golpes en el cerebro dureza de recubrimientos de si-ti-zr fabricados por la técnica de sol-gel sobre sustratos de aluminio aa2024-t3 efecto del número de reynolds sobre la relación de coeficientes aerodinámicos de un aerogenerador sin aspas amplificador electrónico portátil con energía solar para el análisis de la variabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca en campo estimación de la radiación solar utilizando redes de neuronas artificiales autoreparación del concreto y el impacto en el futuro de las construcciones evaluation of the use of biomaterials for the manufacture of biodegradable films alternatives for critical points of vehicular accident according to statistical analysis estudio de patología para la rehabilitación del teatro juan atalaya en san josé de cúcuta, colombia estudio de seguridad vial mediante la implementación de comparendos por medios técnicos y tecnológicos en la autopista san antonio, villa del rosario, colombia evaluación estimada de derrames de crudo ocasionados por acciones subversivas al oleoducto caño limón coveñas experiencias significativas en los procesos de movilidad académica en un programa de ingeniería industrial factores de riesgo de la desercion estudiantil del programa de ingenieria industrial en una universidad publica gerencia creativa para el desarrollo del marketing social gestión del riesgo frente a movimientos telúricos en construcción de edificaciones en san josé de cúcuta impacto socioeconómico y nivel de emprendimiento en los graduados de un programa de ingeniería industrial la educación inclusiva y las tecnologías en las prácticas pedagógicas medición de parámetros en líneas de transmisión con sistemas embebidos metodología del cálculo de la exergía en la chimenea de una caldera pirotubular de 10bhp metodología para la selección de perfiles aerodinámicos de aerogeneradores a bajo número de reynolds microstructure and morphology of wc-18co coatings obtained by thermal spray by flame modelo de simulación de eventos discretos, para mejorar los tiempos de espera en los servicios de urgencias de un hospital público modelo matematico de un intercambiador de calor tipo tubo y coraza pbx ip como herramienta de integración de servicios de comunicaciones para la ufps basado en las mejores prácticas de itil percepción empresarial del impacto de los trabajos de grado desarrollados por un programa de ingeniería industrial en el área metropolitana de cúcuta plataforma web para la gestión de protección y adopción de animales en condición de calle en la ciudad de cúcuta y su área metropolitana predicción del precio del petróleo mediante redes de neuronas artificiales propuesta de mejoramiento de las zonas de estacionamiento vehicular y de motos de la ufps cúcuta empleando simulación prototipo para control de asistencia académica de manera remota con tecnología rfid resistencia a la compresion de concretos con adicion parcial de polietileno de alta densidad simulación bidimensional del flujo de aire sobre un perfil aerodinámico sg6043 a bajos números de reynolds mediante la simulación computacional simulación de un alabe de aerogenerador para bajas potencias y velocidades software de registro de asistencia usando mecanismos de hardware libre con comunicación nfc "agile sheduling" generación automática de la planificación de la entrega "release planing" asignación de historias de usuario a los desarrolladores usando algoritmos genéticos la tecnología una alternativa creativa en el proceso enseñanza- aprendizaje en los deportes sobre ruedas caracterización espectroscópica y fisicoquímica de la gulupa passiflora edulis sims de la provincia de pamplona, norte de santander asociación entre el conocimiento de los factores de riesgo y las condiciones de salud vocal en docentes universitarios ansiedad, depresión y autoconcepto en mujeres diagnósticadas con cáncer de mama autoconcepto en adolescentes una mirada desde la migración - ii semestre de 2018 y i semestre de 2019 estilos de vida en jóvenes estudiantes de fisioterapia de dos universidades de bucaramanga, colombia diseño y aplicación de un programa de intervención en seguridad y salud en el trabajo, basado en los factores de riesgos laborales, en salones de belleza / peluquerías de cúcuta 2019 impacto del programa cuidado de enfermería a las puérperas y su recién nacido egresados de una institución de salud del municipio de cúcuta decálogo de seguridad vial para la disminución de los riesgo en los usuarios viales en una empresa ubicada en la intervención pedagógica mediada por las tics en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del cuidado de personas con enfermedad crónica cuidado humanizado de enfermería desde la experiencia de los pacientes: metasíntesis en búsqueda de la humanización de la unidad de cuidados intensivos nivel de conocimiento sobre sífilis gestacional en mujeres gestantes que asisten a la unidad básica de comuneros, en el segundo trimestre del año 2019 la espiritualidad de los cuidadores en el contexto de la alta complejidad memoria histórica en los trabajadores de salud en la zona del catatumbo, un abordaje desde la bioética para la deliberación descripción del uso tradicional de plantas medicinales en el mercado del municipio de sardinata, norte de santander prevalencia de molestias osteomusculares y calidad de vida laboral en el personal de enfermería de un centro quirúrgico de la ciudad de cúcuta en el primer semestre de 2019 perfil cognitivo de los pacientes con trastorno afectivo bipolar activo y en remisión en el hospital mental rudesindo soto en el segundo trimestre del 2019 perspectiva del cuidador entrenado en pacientes con enfermedad renal cronica desde tres dimensiones estado serológico igg e igm frente a toxoplasma gondii y factores de riesgo relacionados, en gestantes de primer trimestre atendidas instituciones de salud de cúcuta, colombia análisis dimensional del riesgo percibido por la exposición a radiaciones ionizantes del activo intangible del sector salud ; International scientific commiteeI Prof. Ricardo Santiago Puca Molina Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, Argentina Prof. William J. Ugarte Guevara Universidad de Uppsala, Suecia Prof. Antoni Bosch Pujol Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España Prof. Libardo Flórez Villamizar Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador, Venezuela Prof. Jimmy Jefferson Túllume Salazar Gerente General - ICACIT / Coordinador IEEE YP Region 9, Perú Prof. Maura Olivia García Pineda Universidad Tecnológica de Querétaro, México Prof. Carlos Humberto Sierra Becerra Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, México Prof. Ramona Moliné Escanilla Institute of Audit and IT-Governance Prof. Anderson Sandoval Amador Universidad Nacional del centro de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina Prof. Ely Dannier V. Niño Basque Center on Materials, Applications and Nanostructures (BCMaterials), Leioa, Spain; Fundation of Researchers in Science and Technology of Materials, Colombia. ; National scientific commitee Prof. Octavio Andrés González Estrada Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga Prof. Fredy Humberto Vera Rivera Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander, San José de Cúcuta Prof. Oscar Javier Rodríguez Riveros IEEE Colombia / Universidad de San Buenaventura, Bogotá D.C. Prof. Elkín Gélvez Almeida Universidad Simón Bolívar, San José de Cúcuta Prof. José José Barba Ortega Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá D.C. Prof. Hugo Fernando Castro Silva Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, Tunja Prof. Nelson Afanador García Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander seccional Ocaña ; Organizing commitee Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander- UFPS Jhan Piero Rojas Suarez Olga Marina Vega Angarita Judith Del Pilar Rodriguez Tenjo Liliana Marcela Bastos Osorio Nydia María Rincón Villamizar Mawency Vergel Ortega Edwin Alberto Murillo Ruiz Giovanni Mauricio Baez Sandoval Gloria Esperanza Zambrano Plata Jessica Lorena Leal Pabón Marling Carolina Cordero Díaz Andrea Cacique Dixon Alirio García Carrillo Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander - Seccional Ocaña Torcoroma Velasquez Perez Ana Melissa Rodríguez Chinchilla Lady Sánchez Jácome Nelson Fernando Gaona Díaz Didier Camilo Gaona Sánchez ; 6th ed

The number 1 edition of volume XXII of the year 2021, eight research articles, five review articles and one corresponding to the special section, university life. The first research article RELATION BETWEEN THE ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDE AND THE PURCHASE OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTS IN THE CONSUMERS OF MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA, written by Diana María López Celis of the Konrad Lorenz University and Mónica Eugenia Peñalosa Otero of the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, address the responsible consumption issue and its relationship with the environment. The research was carried out in the city of Medellín - Colombia and 390 people over 18 years of age were surveyed. Data analysis was carried out, the results of which yielded interesting aspects such as a change in people's buying behavior, with a view to preserving the environment. In second place is the article EFFECTS OF THE FEATURES OF VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE THAT INCREASE THEIR POPULARITY: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS by Carlos Fernando Osorio Andrade, Augusto Rodríguez Orejuela, Fernando Moreno Betancourt, professors at the Universidad del Valle, make an immersion in the world of multimedia platforms and use YouTube as a source of information to analyse the effect of some aspects such as: the strategy of the message, the consistency of the brand and the technical characteristics of the video on the popularity or download of videos corresponding to 4 cell phone companies , specifically Tigo, Movistar, Claro , Avantel. Third, in the article TYPOLOGIES OF POVERTY IN CALI: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON SISBEN, written by María Isabel Caicedo Hurtado and María Castillo Valencia of the Universidad del Valle in Colombia, a comparative study of the poverty conditions of the people surveyed by the Identification System of Potential Beneficiaries of Social Programs (SISBEN) for 2009 and 2019. This information is used to estimate the different types of poverty, based on the monetary poverty line and basic needs dissatisfied households in the city of Cali. The conclusions are very interesting in that there is evidence of an impoverishment of the people who enter the SISBEN and the inclusion of the poor in communes or neighborhoods of the city that had not previously been registered. In the fourth article ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELAN MIGRATION IN THE CITY OF PASTO: CHARACTERISTICS AND PERCEPTIONS OF MIGRANTS written by Bayron Paz Noguera; Oscar Alpala Ramos; Evelyn Villota Vivas, presents a socioeconomic characterization of the Venezuelan migrants who are in the city of Pasto and includes the reasons that led them to leave their country. For the research, which is also exploratory, a survey was applied to 180 people in which questions were included that allowed conclusions to be drawn regarding the situation of migrants in the city. It is interesting in that it shows empirically that some reasons for the exodus are insecurity, poverty and discontent with the government of Nicolás Maduro. In the fifth place is presented the article ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND DESIGN: CHARACTERIZATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS by María Cristina Ascuntar Rivera and Francisco Rafael Ayala Gallardo who make an analysis of the entrepreneurial initiatives of the students of the industrial design program of the University de Nariño in Colombia, which is presented as one of the degree options at this institution. The documentary review is established for a period of 18 years (2000-2018), 201 research projects were reviewed in different modalities of which only 5% corresponded to the modality of business creation. It is concluded that it is necessary to strengthen entrepreneurship and the modality of business creation, among other recommendations. In the sixth research article, BUSINESS INTENTION AND CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN MASTER'S STUDENTS IN ADMINISTRATION IN COLOMBIA written by Edwin Ignacio Tarapuez Chamorro, Juan Manuel Aristizábal Tamayo and Adriana Patricia Uribe Urán, the dependence between business intention and the cultural dimensions of MBA students in Colombia, based on Hofstede's studies on culture, and as reference two variables: ease of doing business, included in the Doing Business study of the World Bank (2013) and the assessment of the entrepreneurial environment in Colombia contained in the General Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). For the research, a non-probabilistic survey was applied to 485 people from 36 face-to-face programs in 14 cities in Colombia divided between high income and low income, obtaining interesting results regarding the six dimensions studied. In the seventh research article CONSUMER DECISION MAKING AND CONSERVATION IN COSTA RICA presented by Pablo Andrés Sánchez Campos, an analysis of the consumer decision-making of respondents in Costa Rica and the influence of conservatism in this type of decision is carried out. The data are analyzed using statistical techniques and instruments that provide interesting conclusions to the investigation. In the eighth research article SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING EN EMPRESAS AGRÍCOLAS CUBANAS written by Rudibel Perdigón Llanes and Hubert Viltres Sala, the importance of the use of social networks and the Internet for increasing profits and the visibility of companies is taken up. In the investigation, information was collected from 61 companies of the Agricultural Business Group of the Ministry of Agriculture of Cuba, concluding that it is necessary to reinforce their positioning due to their low index of digital positioning, which hinders their economic growth. Within the group of review articles is the one presented by Luis Améstica Rivas, Andrea King Domínguez, Carlos Cruzat Valenzuela, and Constanza Stuardo Solar from the Universidad de Chile called ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE COUNCIL. A BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY. The authors carried out an interesting review of 4,468 articles related to the business area, using bibliometric techniques supported by the VOSviewer software, in order to establish the importance and relationship between decision-making by Boards of Directors and financial performance of the companies. The second review article is the one presented by Claudia Magali Solarte Solarte, Martha Lida Solarte Solarte, Gloria Alicia Rivera Vallejo of the Universidad Cesmag located in Colombia called THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CONFLICT AND POSTCONFLICT: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF LITERATURE. With the help of specialized databases such as Scopus, Scielo, Redalyc, Science Direct and Google Scholar, the authors explored some general terms related to entrepreneurship, in view of their interest in determining how entrepreneurship becomes a possible alternative of productive reintegration for ex-combatants and victims of the armed conflict in different countries of the world. In the third review article, TOURIST COMPETITIVENESS. AN APPROACH FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF BOYACÁ, COLOMBIA written by Ana Milena Serrano Amado, Luz A. Montoya Restrepo, Nidia Paola Amado Cely, the determining factors of the competitiveness of tourist destinations in the Province of Sugamuxi were identified, using the Crouch and Ritchie model. Some existing competitiveness models were reviewed and interesting conclusions were established with a view to generating a growing tourism dynamic in said province. In the fourth review article, TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY: ANALYSIS FROM THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT, THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE INCORPORATION OF COMMUNITIES IN A TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, the authors Helmer Fernando Llanez Anaya and Claudia Patricia Sacristán Rodríguez, propose a analysis framework to articulate territorial development and the solidarity economy from three dimensions: the idea of development, the environmental dimension and the incorporation of communities in a territorial development strategy. For them, they conducted a document review using databases such as Redalyc, Scielo, Research Gate, scopus and Web of Science through the metasearch engine of the Javeriana University library. In the last review article OFERTA EXPORTABLE DEL CACAO FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NARIÑO, (2010-2018), the authors Yhancy Eliana Coral Rojas, Gladys Omaira Melo Mosquera, Darlan Arley Agredo Madroñero and Jenny Katherine Moncayo Rosero, from the Universidad de Nariño in Colombia , carry out a secondary review on the cocoa sector in Colombia, using the general database of exports of Nariño of the official platform of the DIAN entity that presents the export declarations of each region in Colombia, the information platform of Legiscomex and the ranking tool by tariff subheading and by department of and the ordering variable in FOB value (US $). With the data obtained, some recommendations are established for the cocoa sector of the department of Nariño. ; La edición No 1 del volumen XXII del año 2021, contiene ocho artículos de investigación, cinco de revisión y uno correspondiente a la sección especial, vida universitaria. El primer artículo de investigación RELACIÓN ENTRE LA ACTITUD AMBIENTAL Y LA COMPRA DE PRODUCTOS SOCIALMENTE RESPONSABLES EN LOS CONSUMIDORES DE MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA, escrito por Diana María López Celis de la Universidad Konrad Lorenz y Mónica Eugenia Peñalosa Otero de la Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, abordan el tema de consumo responsable y su relación con el medio ambiente. La investigación de desarrolló en la ciudad de Medellín – Colombia y se encuestaron 390 personas mayores de 18 años. Se realizó el análisis de los datos, cuyos resultados arrojaron aspectos interesantes como un cambio en el comportamiento de compra de las personas, con miras a la preservación del medio ambiente. En segundo lugar se encuentra el artículo EFECTOS DE LAS CARACTERÍSTICAS DE VIDEOS EN YOUTUBE QUE AUMENTAN SU POPULARIDAD: UN ANÁLISIS EMPÍRICO de Carlos Fernando Osorio Andrade, Augusto Rodríguez Orejuela, Fernando Moreno Betancourt, profesores de la Universidad del Valle, hacen una inmersión en el mundo de las plataformas multimedia y utilizan YouTube como fuente de información para analizar el efecto de algunos aspectos tales como: la estrategia del mensaje, la consistencia de marca y las características técnicas del video sobre la popularidad o descarga de videos correspondientes a 4 empresas de telefonía celular, específicamente Tigo, Movistar, Claro, Avantel. En tercer lugar, en el artículo TIPOLOGÍAS DE POBREZA EN CALI: UN ANÁLISIS CON BASE EN EL SISBEN escrito por María Isabel Caicedo Hurtado y María Castillo Valencia de la Universidad del Valle en Colombia, se elaboran un estudio comparativo de las condiciones de pobreza de las personas encuestadas por el Sistema de Identificación de Potenciales Beneficiarios de Programas Sociales (SISBEN) para en el año 2009 y para el año 2019. Se utiliza esta información para estimar las diferentes tipologías de pobreza, en función de la línea de pobreza monetaria y necesidades básicas insatisfechas de los hogares de la ciudad de Cali. Las conclusiones son muy interesantes en tanto se evidencia un empobrecimiento de las personas que ingresan al SISBEN y la inclusión de pobres en comunas o barrios de la ciudad que antes no se habían registrado. En el cuarto artículo ANÁLISIS DE LA MIGRACIÓN VENEZOLANA EN LA CIUDAD DE PASTO: CARACTERÍSTICAS Y PERCEPCIONES DE LOS MIGRANTES escrito por Bayron Paz Noguera; Oscar Alpala Ramos; Evelyn Villota Vivas, se presenta una caracterización socioeconómica de los migrantes venezolanos que se encuentran en la ciudad de Pasto y se incluyen las razones que los llevaron a salir de su país. Para la investigación, que además es de tipo exploratorio, se aplicó una encuesta a 180 personas en la que se incluyeron preguntas que permitieron extraer conclusiones respecto a la situación de los migrantes en la ciudad. Es interesante en tanto demuestra empíricamente que algunas razones para el éxodo son la inseguridad, la pobreza y el descontento con el gobierno de Nicolás Maduro. En el quinto lugar se presenta el artículo EMPRENDIMIENTO Y DISEÑO: CARACTERIZACIÓN DE LAS INICIATIVAS EMPRENDEDORAS DE LOS DISEÑADORES INDUSTRIALES de María Cristina Ascuntar Rivera y Francisco Rafael Ayala Gallardo quienes hacen un análisis de las iniciativas emprendedoras de los estudiantes del programa de diseño industrial de la Universidad de Nariño en Colombia, que se presenta como una de las opciones de grado en esta institución. La revisión documental se establece para un período de 18 años (2000- 2018), se revisaron 201 proyectos de investigación en diferentes modalidades de los cuales únicamente el 5% correspondió a la modalidad de creación de empresa. Se concluye que es preciso fortalecer el emprendimiento y la modalidad de creación de empresas, entre otras recomendaciones. En el sexto artículo de investigación, INTENCIÓN EMPRESARIAL Y DIMENSIONES CULTURALES EN ESTUDIANTES DE MAESTRÍA EN ADMINISTRACIÓN EN COLOMBIA escrito por Edwin Ignacio Tarapuez Chamorro, Juan Manuel Aristizábal Tamayo y Adriana Patricia Uribe Urán, se analiza la dependencia entre la intención empresarial y las dimensiones culturales de los estudiantes de Maestría en Administración (MBA) en Colombia, tomando como base los estudios de Hofstede sobre la cultura, y como referentes dos variables: la facilidad para hacer negocios, incluida en el estudio Doing Business del Banco Mundial (2013) y la valoración del entorno emprendedor en Colombia contenida en el General Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Para la investigación se aplicó una encuesta no probabilística a 485 personas de 36 programas presenciales en 14 ciudades de Colombia divididas entre altos ingresos y bajos ingresos, obteniendo resultados interesantes en cuanto a las seis dimensiones estudiadas. En el séptimo artículo de investigación TOMA DE DECISIONES DE CONSUMIDORES Y CONSERVADURISMO EN COSTA RICA presentado por Pablo Andrés Sánchez Campos, se realiza un análisis la toma de decisiones de consumo de encuestados en Costa Rica y la influencia del conservadurismo en este tipo de decisiones. Los datos se analizan utilizando técnicas e instrumentos estadísticos que aportan interesantes conclusiones a la investigación. En el octavo artículo de investigación SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING EN EMPRESAS AGRÍCOLAS CUBANAS escrito por Rudibel Perdigón Llanes y Hubert Viltres Sala, se retoma la importancia que tiene el uso de las redes sociales e internet para el incremento de utilidades y la visibilidad de las empresas. En la investigación se recolectó información de 61 empresas del Grupo Empresarial Agrícola del Ministerio de la Agricultura de Cuba, concluyendo que es necesario reforzar el posicionamiento de las mismas debido a su bajo índice de posicionamiento digital, lo que obstaculiza su crecimiento económico. Dentro del grupo de los artículos de revisión se encuentra el presentado por Luis Améstica Rivas, Andrea King Domínguez, Carlos Cruzat Valenzuela, Constanza Stuardo Solar de la Universidad de Chile denominado CONSEJO DE ADMINISTRACIÓN Y DESEMPEÑO FINANCIERO. UN ESTUDIO BIBLIOMÉTRICO. Los autores realizaron una interesante revisión de 4.468 artículos relacionados con el área de negocios, utilizaron técnicas bibliométricas apoyadas por el software VOSviewer, con el propósito de establecer la importancia y relación entre la toma de decisiones por parte de los Consejos de Administración y el desempeño financiero de las compañías. El segundo artículo de revisión es el presentado por Claudia Magali Solarte Solarte, Martha Lida Solarte Solarte, Gloria Alicia Rivera Vallejo de la Universidad Cesmag ubicada en Colombia denominado PAPEL DEL EMPRENDIMIENTO EN EL CONFLICTO Y POSTCONFLICTO: UNA REVISIÓN SISTEMÁTICA DE LITERATURA. Con la ayuda de las bases de datos especializadas como Scopus, Scielo, Redalyc, Science Direct y Google Scholar, las autoras exploraron algunos términos generales relacionados con el emprendimiento, en vista de su interés por determinar la manera cómo el emprendimiento se convierte en una posible alternativa de reinserción productiva para excombatientes y víctimas del conflicto armado en diferentes países del mundo. En el tercer artículo de revisión, LA COMPETITIVIDAD TURÍSTICA. UNA APROXIMACIÓN DESDE EL DEPARTAMENTO DE BOYACÁ, COLOMBIA escrito por Ana Milena Serrano Amado, Luz A. Montoya Restrepo, Nidia Paola Amado Cely, se identificaron los factores determinantes de la competitividad de los destinos turísticos en la Provincia de Sugamuxi, utilizando el modelo de Crouch y Ritchie. Se revisaron algunos modelos de competitividad existentes y se establecieron interesantes conclusiones con miras a generar una dinámica turística creciente en dicha provincia. En el cuarto artículo de revisión, DESARROLLO TERRITORIAL Y ECONOMÍA SOLIDARIA: ANÁLISIS DESDE EL CONCEPTO DE DESARROLLO, EL MEDIO AMBIENTE Y LA INCORPORACIÓN DE LAS COMUNIDADES EN UNA ESTRATEGIA DE DESARROLLO TERRITORIAL, los autores Helmer Fernando Llanez Anaya y Claudia Patricia Sacristán Rodríguez, proponer un marco de análisis para articular el desarrollo territorial y la economía solidaria desde tres dimensiones: la idea de desarrollo, la dimensión ambiental y la incorporación de las comunidades en una estrategia de desarrollo territorial. Para ellos realizaron una revisión documental utilizando bases de datos como Redalyc, Scielo, Research Gate, scopus y Web of Science a través del metabuscador de la biblioteca de la Universidad Javeriana. En el último artículo de revisión OFERTA EXPORTABLE DEL CACAO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE NARIÑO, (2010-2018), los autores Yhancy Eliana Coral Rojas, Gladys Omaira Melo Mosquera, Darlan Arley Agredo Madroñero y Jenny Katherine Moncayo Rosero, de la Universidad de nariño en Colombia, realizan una revisión secundaria sobre el sector cacaotero en Colombia, utilizando la base de datos general de exportaciones de Nariño de la plataforma oficial de la DIAN entidad que presenta las declaraciones de exportación de cada región en Colombia, la plataforma de información de Legiscomex y la herramienta ranking por subpartida arancelaria y por departamento de y la variable de ordenamiento en valor FOB (US$). Con los datos obtenidos se establecen algunas recomendaciones para el sector cacaoterio del departamento de Nariño. ; O número 1 do volume XXII do ano 2021 contém cinco artigos de pesquisa, cinco artigos de revisão e um correspondente à seção especial Vida universitária. Primeiro artigo de pesquisa RELAÇÃO ENTRE A ATIVIDADE AMBIENTAL E A COMPRA DE PRODUTOS SOCIALMENTE RESPONSÁVEIS POR CONSUMIDORES DE MEDELLÍN, COLÔMBIA, escrito por Diana María López Celis da Universidade Konrad Lorenz e Mónica Eugenia Peñalosa Otero da Universidade Jorge Tadeo Empréstimo temático de consumo responsável e sua relação com o meio ambiente. Pesquisa de desenvolvimento na cidade de Medellín - Colômbia e 390 pessoas tinham mais de 18 anos. Foi realizada a análise dos dados, cujos resultados trouxeram aspectos interessantes como a mudança no comportamento de compra das pessoas, com vistas à preservação do meio ambiente. Em segundo lugar, o artigo EFEITOS DAS CARACTERÍSTICAS DOS VÍDEOS NO YOUTUBE QUE AUMENTAM SUA POPULARIDADE: A ANÁLISE EMPÍRICA de Carlos Fernando Osorio Andrade, Augusto Rodríguez Orejuela, Fernando Moreno Betancourt, professores da Universidad del Valle, fazem uma imersão no mundo de plataformas multimídia e usar o YouTube como fonte de informação para analisar a eficácia de alguns aspectos como: a estratégia da mensagem, a consistência da marca e as características técnicas do vídeo sobre a popularidade do download de vídeos correspondentes a 4 empresas de telefonia , especificamente Tigo, Movistar, Claro, Avantel. Em terceiro lugar, no artigo TIPOLOGIAS DE POBREZA EM CALI: UMA ANÁLISE COM BASE NO SISBEN, escrito por María Isabel Caicedo Hurtado e María Castillo Valencia, da Universidad del Valle na Colômbia, foi desenvolvido um estudo comparativo das condições de pobreza na Colômbia. eles. pessoas entrevistadas pelo Sistema de Identificação de Potenciais Beneficiários de Programas Sociais (SISBEN) para o ano de 2009 e para o ano de 2019. Essas informações são utilizadas para estimar os diferentes tipos de pobreza, de acordo com a linha de pobreza monetária e necessidades básicas de pessoas insatisfeitas. a cidade de Cali. As conclusões são muito interessantes, tanto que há indícios de um empobrecimento das pessoas que ingressam no SISBEN e da inclusão dos pobres nas comunas da cidade que não eram cadastrados anteriormente. No quarto artigo ANÁLISE DA MIGRAÇÃO VENEZUELANA NA CIDADE DE PASTO: CARACTERÍSTICAS E PERCEPÇÕES DOS MIGRANTES, escrito por Bayron Paz Noguera; Oscar Alpala Ramos; Evelyn Villota Vivas apresenta uma caracterização socioeconômica dos migrantes venezuelanos que se encontram na cidade de Pasto e inclui os motivos que os levaram a deixar seu país. Para a pesquisa, que também é exploratória, foi aplicada uma survey a 180 pessoas, que incluiu questões que permitissem tirar conclusões sobre a situação dos migrantes na cidade. É interessante, tanto empiricamente, que alguns motivos para o êxodo da insegurança, pobreza e descontentamento com o governo de Nicolás Maduro. Em quinto lugar, o artigo EMPREENDEDORISMO E DESIGN: CARACTERIZAÇÃO DAS INICIATIVAS DE DESIGNERS INDUSTRIAIS de María Cristina Ascuntar Rivera e Francisco Rafael Ayala Gallardo, que faz uma análise das iniciativas empreendedoras de estudantes industriais de seus alunos. de Nariño na Colômbia, que se apresenta como uma das opções de graça nesta instituição. A revisão documental está prevista para um período de 18 anos (2000-2018), foram revisados 201 projetos de pesquisa em diferentes modalidades, dos quais apenas 5% correspondem ao método de criação de empresas. Conclui-se que é necessário fortalecer o empreendedorismo e a criação de negócios, entre outras recomendações. No sexto artigo de pesquisa, INTENÇÃO EMPRESARIAL E DIMENSÕES CULTURAIS EM ALUNOS DE MESTRE EM ADMINISTRAÇÃO NA COLÔMBIA, escrito por Edwin Ignacio Tarapuez Chamorro, Juan Manuel Aristizábal Tamayo e Adriana Patricia Uribe Urán, a dependência entre a intenção empresarial e as dimensões culturais de Alunos de MBA na Colômbia, com base nos estudos de Hofstede sobre cultura, e como referência duas variáveis: facilidade de fazer negócios, incluída no estudo Doing Business do Banco Mundial (2013) e a avaliação do ambiente empresarial na Colômbia contido no General Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Para a pesquisa, foi aplicada uma pesquisa não probabilística a 485 pessoas de 36 programas presenciais em 14 cidades da Colômbia divididas entre alta e baixa renda, obtendo resultados interessantes em relação às seis dimensões estudadas. No sétimo artigo de pesquisa TOMADA DE DECISÕES E CONSERVAÇÃO DO CONSUMIDOR NA COSTA RICA apresentada por Pablo Andrés Sánchez Campos, é feita uma análise da tomada de decisão dos respondentes do consumidor na Costa Rica e a influência do conservadorismo neste tipo de decisão. Os dados são analisados por meio de técnicas e instrumentos estatísticos que fornecem conclusões interessantes para a investigação. No oitavo artigo de investigação SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING EN EMPRESAS AGRÍCOLAS CUBANAS da autoria de Rudibel Perdigón Llanes e Hubert Viltres Sala, retoma-se a importância da utilização das redes sociais e da Internet para aumentar os lucros e a visibilidade das empresas. Na investigação foram coletadas informações de 61 empresas do Grupo Empresarial Agrícola do Ministério da Agricultura de Cuba, concluindo que é necessário reforçar seu posicionamento devido ao seu baixo índice de posicionamento digital, que dificulta seu crescimento econômico. Dentro do grupo de artigos de revisão está o apresentado por Luis Améstica Rivas, Andrea King Domínguez, Carlos Cruzat Valenzuela e Constanza Stuardo Solar da Universidade do Chile denominado CONSELHO DE ADMINISTRAÇÃO E DESEMPENHO FINANCEIRO. UM ESTUDO BIBLIOMÉTRICO. Os autores realizaram uma interessante revisão de 4.468 artigos relacionados à área de negócios, utilizando técnicas bibliométricas apoiadas no software VOSviewer, a fim de estabelecer a importância e a relação entre a tomada de decisão dos Conselhos de Administração e o desempenho financeiro. das empresas. O segundo artigo de revisão é o apresentado por Claudia Magali Solarte Solarte, Martha Lida Solarte Solarte, Gloria Alicia Rivera Vallejo da Universidade Cesmag localizada na Colômbia denominado O PAPEL DO EMPREENDEDORISMO NO CONFLITO E PÓS-CONFLITO: UMA REVISÃO SISTEMÁTICA DA LITERATURA. Com a ajuda de bancos de dados especializados como Scopus, Scielo, Redalyc, Science Direct e Google Scholar, os autores exploraram alguns termos gerais relacionados ao empreendedorismo, tendo em vista seu interesse em determinar cómo o empreendedorismo se torna um possível alternativa produtiva de reintegração para ex-combatentes e vítimas do conflito armado em diversos países do mundo. No terceiro artigo de revisão, COMPETITIVIDADE TURÍSTICA. UMA ABORDAGEM DO DEPARTAMENTO DE BOYACÁ, COLÔMBIA escrito por Ana Milena Serrano Amado, Luz A. Montoya Restrepo, Nidia Paola Amado Cely, foram identificados os fatores determinantes da competitividade dos destinos turísticos da Província de Sugamuxi, a partir do modelo Crouch e Ritchie. Foram revistos alguns modelos de competitividade existentes e estabelecidas conclusões interessantes com vista a gerar uma dinâmica turística crescente na referida província. No quarto artigo de revisão, DESENVOLVIMENTO TERRITORIAL E ECONOMIA SOLIDÁRIA: ANÁLISE A PARTIR DO CONCEITO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO, MEIO AMBIENTE E INCORPORAÇÃO DE COMUNIDADES EM UMA ESTRATÉGIA DE DESENVOLVIMENTO TERRITORIAL, os autores Helmer Fernando Llanez Anaya e Claudia Patricia a Rodríguez, propõem quadro de análise para articular o desenvolvimento territorial e a economia solidária a partir de três dimensões: a ideia de desenvolvimento, a dimensão ambiental e a incorporação das comunidades numa estratégia de desenvolvimento territorial. Para eles, realizaram uma revisão documental em bancos de dados como Redalyc, Scielo, Research Gate, scopus e Web of Science por meio do mecanismo de metabusca da biblioteca da Universidade Javeriana. No último artigo de revisão OFERTA EXPORTAVEL DE CACAU DO DEPARTAMENTO DE NARIÑO, (2010-2018), os autores Yhancy Eliana Coral Rojas, Gladys Omaira Melo Mosquera, Darlan Arley Agredo Madroñero e Jenny Katherine Moncayo Rosero, da Universidade de Nariño na Colômbia , realizar uma revisão secundária sobre o setor do cacau na Colômbia, utilizando a base de dados geral de exportações de Nariño da plataforma oficial da entidade DIAN que apresenta as declarações de exportação de cada região da Colômbia, a plataforma de informação do Legiscomex e do ferramenta de classificação por subtítulo tarifário e por departamento e a variável de pedido em valor FOB (US $). Com os dados obtidos, são estabelecidas algumas recomendações para o setor cacaueiro do departamento de Nariño.

La construcción del futuro. Los retos de las Ciencias Sociales en México, fue el lema del Cuarto Congreso Nacional de Ciencias Sociales celebrado en la ciudad de San Cristóbal de Las Casas del 24 al 28 de marzo del 2014 bajo la convocatoria del Consejo Mexicano de Ciencias Sociales (COMECSO) y con una gran acogida de académicos, investigadores, funcionarios y estudiantes de todo el país. Esta publicación es un producto de dicho evento académico y constituye un esfuerzo por responder a sus objetivos respecto a la socialización de los resultados de las ciencias sociales. ; Educación para la sustentabilidad: un desafío para las facultades y escuelas de negocios en México, de Gabriela Monforte García, Edgar González Gaudiano y Andreas M. Hartmann, 6; Los aportes de las Ciencias Sociales al programa Ingeniería en Desarrollo Agroforestal de Chapingo, de Mauricio Macossay Vallado , José Antonio Ávila Dorantes e Hipólito Mendoza Castillo, 21; La reforma curricular de la Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala: cambios, presiones, influencias y respuesta local, de Blanca Margarita Andrea Padilla Mendoza y Moisés Mecalco López, 32; Innovación curricular desde la formación de competencias profesionales en un contexto intercultural: caso de la Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas, de José Bastiani Gómez, María Jane Rivas Damián y José Alfredo López Jiménez, 42; Reforma educativa: la empresarización de la sociedad como biopolítica, de Raúl Enrique Anzaldúa Arce, 60; Virtualización y privatización educativa: una estrategia para la desaparición de la escuela, de Miguel Ángel Escalante Cantú y Etel Garrido Cruz, 70; México en la sociedad del conocimiento. Políticas educativas y aplicación de Tecnologías de información y comunicación que contribuyen a la innovación científico-educativa, de Emmanuel Álvarez Hernández, 79; Similitudes y diferencias en los procesos de socialización juvenil a través de las redes virtuales y presenciales, de Iván Alonso Díaz Mora y José Alberto Flores Solano, 92; Una exploración al significado social del like y su papel en las relaciones interpersonales de los jóvenes colimenses, de Rafael Alejandro Márquez Munguía y Aideé Consuelo Arellano Ceballos, 106; TICs, educación y jóvenes de secundaria. Un estudio sobre sociabilidad y la construcción de la identidad de las relaciones interactivas en jóvenes de secundaria pública mexicana. Caso Hermosillo, Sonora, de Carlos René Contreras Cázarez y Gustavo Adolfo León Duarte, 117; El estatus de la profesión médica: perspectivas sociológicas, de María del Pilar González Amarante, 131; La educación en México en tiempos del neoliberalismo: retos y reflexiones frente a la privatización y el desempleo, de Vidal Antonio Sánchez Blancas, Paul Iván González Loranca y Miguel Ángel Flores Peralta, 142; Comunidad profesional de aprendizaje como estrategia de formación docente, de Norma Liliana Galván Meza, 153; Transformaciones socioculturales en la educación media superior en México y nuevas expresiones de la desigualdad escolar, de Jesús Aguilar Nery, 165; Socialización política, manipulación y pérdida de identidad cultural. Realidad del sistema de educación básica en México, de Monserrat Barrón, 178; Interculturalidad, educación superior y exclusión social de grupos vulnerables en México, de Liberio Victorino Ramírez y Rocío Ángeles Atríano Mendieta, 182; Educación en contextos de encierro. Análisis de las prácticas educativas del centro Casa de Medio Camino, de María Eugenia Bové Gimenez, María Belén Itza Griego, Leticia Lueiro Caredio y Cecilia Morel Batista, 197; Proyecto desde el enfoque sur para la conformación de un Observatorio Político Cubano en Internet (OPCI), de Ángel Rodríguez Soler y Eddy Mac Donal Torres, 208; El buen maestro, imaginario que articula identidades. El caso de los docentes de telesecundaria que laboran en el municipio de Huehuetla, Hidalgo, de Linda Aglae Hinojosa Morán, 209; El prestigio docente: una búsqueda por recuperar la conciencia histórica, de Lorena Aguirre Rodríguez, 221; Extensión universitaria y alternativas pedagógicas en la Universidad Latinoamericana, de José Agustín Cano Menoni, 232; Educación tradicional indígena e identidad étnica: construyendo el stalel jkuxlejaltik en Nuevo San Juan Chamula, Las Margaritas, Chiapas, de Ramón Pérez Ruiz, 245; ¡Maestro sólo le encargo los ojos! Cultura escolar y relaciones de poder en el aula, de Brenda del Carmen Nápoles Espinoza, 255; Calidad educativa una lectura desde la pedagogía crítica, de Juan Martínez Flores, 267; Hacia la construcción de un concepto de cultura política universitaria, de Norma Ávila Báez y María Cristina Recéndez Guerrero, 278; La implementación del Programa Nacional de Inglés en Educación Básica: un estudio de caso en el noroeste, de Ruth Roux Rodríguez, 289; El proceso educativo contemporáneo en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Colima, de Angélica Yedit Prado Rebolledo, Amado Ceballos Valdovinos, Jessica Lizeth Guillén Lucatero y Maritza Galván Santiago, 297; Educar en el uso responsable de las nuevas tecnologías, de Jaime Rubio Acosta, 308; La formación del profesorado de licenciatura en el uso de multimedia en el proceso de integración Curricular de las TIC, de Alma Beatriz Grajeda Jiménez, 312; Sociedad tecnología e internet vs. desempleo violencia y desinformación, en tiempos de globalización, de Alicia Medina Carrera, 318; El blog y las interacciones virtuales en México, Centroamérica y El Caribe, de Ramón Abraham Mena Farrera, 334; Sociedad de la información: los datos y las tendencias, de Jordy Micheli Thirion, 343; Análisis crítico de la relación tendencial entre desarrollos científico, económico y humano en México, de Karla Graciela Cedano Villavicencio, Karla Fernanda Ricalde C. y Manuel Martínez Fernández, 352; Propuesta de un modelo de vinculación para el estado de Sinaloa, de Alonso Bajo, José Mateo Bastidas Morales y Arturo Retamoza López, 370; Prácticas discursivas y paradigmas en construcción. La visión de de la comunidad ingenieros sobre la innovación tecnológica y el entorno urbano en México, (1930-1946), de Francisco Javier Delgado Aguilar, 383; Factores que influyen en el número de investigadores en varios países, de José Luis Escobedo Sagaz, 398; Panorama de la física en México: visión de este campo a los 30 años de la creación del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, de Leobardo Eduardo Contreras Gómez, Miguel Ángel Pérez Angón y Eduardo Robles Belmont, 410; La construcción epistemológica del SIDA en la ciencia, de Karla Daniela Hernández García, 421; La industria del software y las cadenas globales de valor: nuevas configuraciones de crecimiento de las regiones, de Daniel Montes Pimentel y Rolando Javier Salinas García, 433; Técnicas de aprendizaje e innovación de las empresas del sector metal-mecánico y su impacto en la integración a empresas líderes de la localidad, de Martha Estela Díaz Muro, Gil Arturo Quijano Vega, Azucena Ochoa Vega y Ana Silvia López Millán, 442M; Evolución e integración regional del sector aeroespacial en México, de Juana Hernández Chavarria, 456; Innovación como resultado del aprendizaje organizacional en la Unidad Politécnica para la Educación Virtual del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, de Carolina Morales Moreno y María del Pilar M. Pérez Hernández, 477; Democratización de la ciencia. Elementos para su caracterización, de Patricia Elena Ojeda Enciso, 489; El trabajo científico: una perspectiva psicosocial, de Javier Zavala Rayas, 504; Ciencia, tecnología e innovación para la inclusión social. Nuevos enfoques académicos y nuevos paradigmas de políticas públicas, de Rosalba Casas, Juan Manuel Corona y Roxana Rivera, 515; La construcción de la red biómica con una perspectiva social, de Carlos Alejandro Martínez Páramo, Homero Arriaga Barrera, Rafael Padilla Becerra y Beatriz Utrilla Sarmiento, 528; Análisis bibliométrico de tesis de posgrado: la producción de la Maestría en Ciencias de la Educación y del Doctorado en Psicología y Educación de la Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, de Rocío Adela Andrade Cázares, Sara Miriam González Ramírez y María del Carmen Guadalupe Díaz Mejía, 542; Contratación de académicos, desigualdad laboral que afecta la articulación docencia-investigación, de María del Carmen Díaz Mejía , Luis Rodolfo Ibarra Rivas y Patricia Roitman Genoud, 558; La emergencia de las comunidades académicas en las universidades de nueva creación. Un enfoque morfogenético, Gustavo Rojas Bravo, 572; Desigualdades tardías: origen social y elección de destinos nacionales y extranjeros para estudiar el doctorado, de Mónica López Ramírez, 585; De la revolución verde a la evolución verde. Innovación en tecnológica en el trigo del valle del Yaqui, Sonora (1945-2013), de Álvaro Bracamonte Sierra y Iris Valenzuela Gastelum, 599; Trayectoria de vida y propensión a innovar: dos variables correlacionadas. Experiencia con productores de cacao en el Soconusco, Chiapas, de Flor Azucena Hernández Rivera, 610; Los efectos de las características de la estructura de una red sobre el desempeño en innovación de las empresas acuícolas: el caso Sonora, de Lydia Venecia Gutiérrez López y Jorge I. León Balderrama, 624; Innovación tecnológica de productores en áreas de alta marginación para incrementar la producción de cultivos básicos en Yucatán, México, de José Gabriel Berdugo Rejón, 648; Uso, adaptación y creación de recursos materiales para lograr aprendizajes significativos, de Nelly del Carmen Córdova Palomeque y María Soledad Eleanor Arellano Quintanar, 655; La implementación de las TIC en la Universidad, de Yolanda Jacqueline Ortega Ayón, 666; Proyecto formativo como estrategia de aprendizaje autónoma utilizando plataforma para el desarrollo de competencias, de Leonor Antonia Espinoza Núñez y René Rodríguez Zamora, 680; Alfabetización digital para jóvenes en rezago educativo, de Norma Isabel Medina Mayagoitia, 694; Aproximaciones a un modelo de políticas diferenciadas para el desarrollo de capacidades en CTI en los estados y regiones mexicanas, de María Antonieta Saldívar Chávez y Eliana Alejandra Arancibia Gutiérrez, 707; Trayectorias en la construcción de espacios para el desarrollo y transferencia de ciencia, tecnología e la innovación para el desarrollo económico y social: la instalación del PIIT y de la CIC en Monterrey, de Eduardo Robles Belmont y Sergio Marco Antonio Luna Ochoa, 730; El papel de los parques científicos y tecnológicos en los sistemas regionales de innovación. Análisis de algunos casos en México y Colombia, de María Elena Giraldo Palacio, 741; Equipamiento y uso de TIC en la educación básica: una brecha difícil de superar, de Daniel Eudave Muñoz, María Guadalupe Muñoz Macías y Margarita Carvajal Ciprés, 760; El desarrollo de las tareas de investigación en el contexto actual de las instituciones de educación superior, de Judith Pérez-Castro y Martha E. Campos Huerta, 772; Educar científicos, límites y potencialidades, de Luis Rodolfo Ibarra Rivas, María del Carmen Díaz Mejía y Sara Miriam González Ramírez, 785; Gestión pedagógica y políticas públicas en Brasil, de Paulo César Dias de Moura, 797; La paradoja de la integración: cadenas globales y fronteras de conocimiento, de Héctor B. Fletes Ocón, 807; La innovación en algunos sectores industriales en México: una perspectiva desde la producción de conocimiento patentado, de Rodrigo Armando Guerrero Castro, 820; Trayectorias de las académicas en la UNAM e incursión en el Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, de Alma Rosa Sánchez Olvera, 836; Educación laica, la reforma pendiente en el sistema educativo mexicano, de Sergio Pérez Sánchez, 848; La formación continua del profesor de educación primaria. Una alternativa a la política educativa, de Rubén Madrigal Segura, 857; La práctica docente del profesor en administración en el proceso de reforma universitaria, de Lizeth Gloria Xochicale Martínez, 869; El pensamiento sobre ciencia, tecnología y sociedad de Amílcar Oscar Herrera durante las décadas del ´60 y ´70 del siglo XX, de Ivian Cruz Rodríguez y Adianez Fernández Bermúdez, 884.

La presente Tesis Doctoral viene titulada como "Presencia de las Redes Sociales y Medios de Comunicación: representación y participación periodística en el nuevo contexto social". Se hace preciso advertir que esta investigación que elaboro pretende cumplir los requisitos necesarios para la obtención del título de Doctor bajo la modalidad de "Tesis por compendio de publicaciones" según viene determinado por el artículo 9 de la Normativa Reguladora del Régimen de Tesis Doctoral (acuerdo 9.1/CG 19-4-12) de la Universidad de Sevilla, publicada en el Boletín Oficial de la Universidad de Sevilla (BOUS) número 3, de 23 de mayo de 2012, y que se desarrolla en el Real Decreto 99/2011 de 28 de enero, por el que se regulan las enseñanzas oficiales de doctorado (BOE de 10 de febrero), donde sus artículos del 11 al 15 establecen el régimen relativo a la admisión a un programa de doctorado, realización, evaluación y defensa de la Tesis Doctoral. Según lo dispuesto por la Disposición Transitoria Primera del RD 99/2011 que habilita la aplicación de la nueva regulación del régimen de Tesis a los estudiantes de anteriores ordenaciones en lo relativo a tribunal, defensa y evaluación de la Tesis Doctoral, la Normativa Reguladora del Régimen de Tesis Doctoral (acuerdo 9.1/CG 19-4-12) de la Universidad de Sevilla indica en su artículo 1 que "queda por tanto así derogada la Normativa de régimen de tesis adoptada por Acuerdo 6.1/C.G. 30-9-08 que es sustituida por la presente Normativa". Esta advertencia es imprescindible para entender la estructura y forma de la materialización escrita de un largo proceso investigador. Es preciso apuntar que, según la Normativa antes indicada, se pueden presentar para su evaluación como Tesis Doctoral un conjunto de trabajos publicados por la doctoranda que "deberá estar relacionado con el proyecto de tesis doctoral en programas regulados por el RD 1393/2007 o anteriores, o con el plan de investigación que conste en el documento de actividades del doctorando en programas regulados por el RD 99/2011". Además, "el conjunto de trabajos deberá estar conformado por un mínimo de dos artículos publicados o aceptados o capítulos de libro o un libro, debiendo ser el doctorando preferentemente el primer autor […]". El compendio de la presente Tesis Doctoral está compuesto por dos libros que son los siguientes: § GARCÍA ESTÉVEZ, Noelia: Redes Sociales en Internet. Implicaciones y consecuencias de las plataformas 2.0 en la sociedad. Editorial Universitas, Madrid, 2012. ISBN: 978-84-7991-359-5. D.L.: M-7755-2012. § GARCÍA ESTÉVEZ, Noelia: Realidad Periodística, contexto social y era tecnológica. Equipo de Investigación de Análisis y Técnica de la Información, Sevilla, 2012. ISBN -13: 978-84-695-6109-6. ISBN -10: 84-695-6109-X. D.L.: SE-6872-2012. Comprobamos que la Tesis Doctoral aquí presentada por compendio de publicaciones cumple los requisitos de la Normativa. Así, el título que encabeza estas páginas fue el propuesto para el Proyecto de Tesis Doctoral presentado en su día y con la posterior aprobación de la Comisión de Doctorado del Departamento de Periodismo II de la Universidad de Sevilla, en el que se circunscribe esta Tesis. Por lo tanto, observamos una evidente relación entre el tema del Proyecto de Tesis Doctoral y las publicaciones aquí presentadas: las Redes Sociales, el Periodismo y la Sociedad. Por otro lado, en cuanto a la autoría de los trabajos presentados, en ambas publicaciones la única autora es la doctoranda, Noelia García Estévez, ciñéndose así a lo indicado en la Normativa que precisa que debe ser la primera autora, y que como puede apreciarse es la única. Siguiendo las indicaciones de la citada Normativa que regula la presentación de una Tesis Doctoral por compendio, a las publicaciones ya mencionadas se incluyen estas páginas en las que figuran los siguientes apartados: A. Una introducción en la que se desarrolla la justificación de la unidad temática de la Tesis. (Véase Capítulo 1). B. Los objetivos, las hipótesis y los principales aspectos del sistema metodológico que ha regido esta investigación. (Véase Capítulo 2). C. Un resumen global de los resultados, donde se enlazan y se contrastan los principales resultados obtenidos y plasmados de forma independiente en las publicaciones presentadas. (Véase Capítulo 4). D. Una discusión de estos resultados, en la que se contrasten estos resultados con las hipótesis planteadas y se reflexione de manera crítica sobre la calidad de la validez interna y externa de la investigación. (Véase Capítulo 5). E. Las conclusiones alcanzadas tras la investigación. (Véase Capítulo 6). F. Aunque la Normativa no lo exige, hemos creído conveniente añadir los apartados de "Publicaciones y sus canalizaciones" donde desarrollamos la optabilidad de editar nuestras investigaciones y las tangibilidades al efectuar las ediciones (véase Capítulo 3) y de "Bibliografía utilizada" en el cual hemos recopilado y clasificado todas las fuentes bibliográficas y hemerográficas que han sido utilizadas a lo largo de las dos publicaciones presentadas y de las siguientes páginas. (Véase Capítulo 7). La presente Tesis Doctoral, titulada "Presencia de las Redes Sociales y Medios de Comunicación: representación y participación periodística en el nuevo contexto social", tiene como objeto de estudio el análisis de la actividad periodística en el nuevo contexto social donde las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación han adquirido un papel crucial. Centraremos nuestra investigación en el ámbito de las Redes Sociales en Internet, pues se han erigido como un elemento fundamental cuyas implicaciones se extienden de manera transversal en todos los aspectos de la sociedad. Por lo tanto, nos enfrentamos al estudio del Periodismo en un momento en el que los avances tecnológicos y la comunicación basada en el paradigma 2.0 influyen, por un lado, en el propio quehacer periodístico, desde el punto de vista del profesional de la información, y, por otro, afecta de manera importante en el entorno social en el que encontramos un ciudadano, receptor de la información periodística, con nuevos hábitos y costumbres y con nuevas demandas y exigencias. Dice Klaus Krippendorff que "toda investigación científica está motivada por el deseo de conocer o entender mejor una porción del mundo real". Esa porción del mundo real a la que se refiere el citado autor y que de forma genérica se conoce como acotación del objeto de estudio es en esta investigación la interrelación entre las Redes Sociales, el Periodismo y la Sociedad. Más concretamente, el papel del Periodismo en un nuevo contexto social en el que impera una comunicación 2.0. Desde finales del pasado siglo y muy especialmente con el inicio del siglo XXI se inauguró una nueva etapa para la humanidad, marcada en gran medida por el imparable desarrollo de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación. Es obvio que hoy día el ciudadano posee una gran capacidad para comunicarse y mantener relaciones profesionales y/o afectivas con otras personas situadas en cualquier parte del globo terráqueo, superando barreras no sólo geográficas, sino también sociales, culturales, políticas, etc. Además, la popularización y el abaratamiento paulatino de los dispositivos y terminales desde los que se pueden acceder a estas redes ha impulsado la generación de conexiones en el ciberespacio. Como dice Cebrián "la web 2.0 es una plataforma de redes sociales de información en sentido amplio y general concerniente a muchos campos del conocimiento y de la vida real, en sentido periodístico o de información de actualidad, veraz y de interés general de la sociedad, en sentido interpersonal, o de relaciones entre dos o más personas y grupos, y en sentido personal o de comunicación de cada individuo con su entorno inmediato a través de sus sistemas captores del exterior y de sus reacciones ante ellos". Con todo ello, nosotros abordamos una investigación de un fenómeno comunicacional que ha supuesto un profundo cambio en la estructura de los Medios de Comunicación y en los modos en que la sociedad recibe la información. El impacto de la web 2.0 ha supuesto una mutación del receptor pasivo de la comunicación a un creador y gestor de contenidos. Ha supuesto, además, la ruptura del paradigma tradicional de la comunicación consistente en la tríada emisor-canal-receptor, donde el mensaje ya no es unidireccional, sino que fluye de manera transversal hasta convertirse en una gran conversación global y multidireccional gracias a la accesibilidad, instantaneidad y viralidad de la red. La planificación y el trazado del proyecto de la investigación por realizar supusieron el inicio de esta investigación, pues se trata de una etapa crucial para el éxito del proceso investigador ya que sin una buena planificación difícilmente se podrán establecer unos objetivos concretos y los mecanismos necesarios para conseguiros. Esta etapa se divide en los siguientes pasos: Selección del tema: consiste en "la definición y posterior delimitación del campo de conocimientos sobre el que piensa trabajar". Identificación de un problema: se trata de detectar algún aspecto no conocido dentro de un área temática y que amerite de una indagación para su solución, también enunciado. Formulación del anteproyecto: se refiere a la realización de "un primer borrador o papel de trabajo que ha de contener las ideas básicas sobre la investigación que nos proponemos llevar a cabo". La elección del tema es la primera gran encrucijada a la que se enfrenta todo investigador en su andadura hacia la obtención del Título de Doctor. No obstante, antes del tema está el problema, pues tal y como apunta Jorge Felibertt "el problema es el punto de partida de toda investigación. Se origina cuando el investigador observa dudas sobre una realidad, o hecho o teorías, aparece a raíz de alguna dificultad, nace de una necesidad, con dificultades sin resolver. Una vez que se viene una idea sin resolver, se procede a enmarcar dicho problema en forma de un título de investigación, luego se plantea de forma específica el problema que se acaba de originar el cual estará contenido en el tema seleccionado". Ahora bien, está claro que el problema que el investigador detecte y que le incite a embarcarse en una investigación profunda como es una Tesis Doctoral estará enmarcado en las áreas de conocimiento y de interés del propio investigador. Esto es, una persona puede hallar diversos problemas que se presten a ser investigados, pero la elección del problema a investigar vendrá determinado en gran medida por las características y la propia naturaleza del investigador. Así, el tema, y su pertinente problema, es el primer interrogante que, una vez resuelto, iniciará un largo camino hasta su materialización en una Tesis Doctoral. No siempre es posible formular el problema de forma clara, precisa y manipulable. Éste es propio de la naturaleza misa de la investigación científica, de sus dificultades y complejidades. La capacidad de plantear problemas, dice Cohen y Nagel, "es una señal de posesión del genio científico" y es que los problemas no surgen de la nada, sino que son los investigadores con sus conocimientos y bases teóricas quienes los formulan. En nuestro caso, la elección del tema vino determinada, en primer lugar, por corresponderse a las predilecciones de la doctoranda y estar en sintonía con el Equipo de Investigación de Análisis y Técnica de la Información de la Universidad de Sevilla, al que pertenece la doctoranda desde 2009. Además, y siguiendo las recomendaciones de Umberto Eco, las fuentes a las que se debía recurrir eran, en general, accesibles y manejables. Por su parte, los directores de la Tesis y la propia investigadora han trabajado en la elaboración de un cuadro metodológico apto y efectivo para esta investigación y para la obtención de unos resultados. Recordemos que la realización de una Tesis Doctoral "constituye un trabajo original de investigación con el cual el aspirante ha de demostrar que es un estudioso capaz de hacer avanzar la disciplina a la que se dedica". Esa es la verdadera vocación de este trabajo, hacer avanzar las Ciencias del Periodismo e incluir en ellas investigaciones y teorías válidas sobre fenómenos actuales que repercuten en la sociedad en general y en el Periodismo en particular y que nos obligan a un replanteamiento constante de las bases teóricas de la ciencia. Las Redes Sociales en Internet han calado en la sociedad como en su día lo hiciera la televisión, el teléfono móvil o el propio Internet. Como ya lo dijera el sociólogo Marshall McLuhan en la década de los 60 del pasado siglo, la tecnología constituye una prolongación de nuestro cuerpo. Internet, que más que una tecnología es un efecto de la misma, ha creado el marco de la nueva sociedad, un entorno vital a medio camino entre lo virtual y lo real. El surgimiento de la web 2.0 o web social ha supuesto un antes y un después para el conjunto de la sociedad en, prácticamente, todas las esferas de la vida. Desde el plano más personal e íntimo, hasta el profesional o académico. Todo se ha visto impregnado de la presencia de Blogs, Wikis o Redes Sociales (como Facebook, Twitter…). La tecnología es omnipresente hoy día y media gran parte de la comunicación social. Este nuevo paradigma en el proceso de la comunicación subyace también en el entorno del Periodismo y los Medios de Comunicación. Por lo tanto, en esta investigación nos aproximamos al papel del Periodismo como un ente que ha de evolucionar y adaptarse al propio desarrollo tecnológico, por un lado, y a la nueva sociedad receptora del discurso mediático, por otro. Desde la ciencia poco se ha abordado aún un estudio profundo y amplio sobre el surgimiento, desarrollo y situación actual de las plataformas sociales y sus implicaciones en el Periodismo. Estamos convencidos de que, como bien apuntaba Castells, "la teoría y la investigación […] deben considerarse medios para comprender nuestro mundo y deben juzgarse por su precisión, rigor y pertinencia". De aquí deriva el interés de esta investigación la cual pretende analizar cómo funciona la actividad periodística en el marco de la sociedad actual desde la inclusión de la web 2.0 y las Redes Sociales. Aspirando a ofrecer un conocimiento válido y útil para hacer frente a las nuevas exigencias del profesional de la información de nuestro mundo. Asistimos a cambios profundos, más grandes de los que vivieron cualquiera de nuestros antepasados. Se trata, según palabras de Vázquez Medel, de un proceso de "trashumanización, en el que se están transformando radicalmente las claves que rigen la economía y el mundo empresarial, la política y las organizaciones sociales, las relaciones interculturales y el mundo del derecho, la evolución de la ciencia y la tecnología, y hasta la experiencia individual del mundo, de la vivencia de la espacialidad, la temporalidad, la corporeidad, la relacionalidad". En esta encrucijada ya no sirven las respuestas que hasta ahora eran válidas, ya se quedan obsoletas las fórmulas que parecían efectivas. Ahora, advierte Vázquez Medel, "se hace imprescindible buscar activa y creativamente nuevas soluciones". En última instancia, ése es precisamente nuestro objetivo: buscar respuestas a las nuevas preguntas surgidas en el ámbito del Periodismo tras una revolución tecnológica y cibernética masiva, en la que los usuarios ya no sólo consumen sino que también producen. Un espacio heterogéneo en cuanto a las características de sus miembros así como a la naturaleza de las relaciones que entre ellos se establecen. 1.3. Antecedentes e interés actual de la investigación. El Análisis de Redes Sociales (en adelante, ARS) y la Teoría de Redes se han configurado como una metodología clave en las modernas Ciencias Sociales, entre las que se incluyen la Sociología, la Antropología, la Psicología Social, la Economía, la Geografía, las Ciencias Políticas, la Cienciometría, los estudios de Comunicación, estudios Organizacionales y la Sociolingüística. También ha ganado un apoyo significativo en la Física y la Biología entre otras. En el ámbito de las Ciencias Sociales, una Red Social es una estructura, un grupo de personas relacionadas entre sí que puede representarse analíticamente en forma de uno o varios grafos, en los cuales los nodos representan a los agentes o individuos -también llamados actores- y los arcos -o lazos- representan las relaciones entre ellos. El ARS surge en la década de 1950 con una ingente cantidad de estudios desde diferentes disciplinas: en la sociometría Jacobo Moreno desarrolla la teoría matemática de los grafos; en la psicología social encontramos las teorías del equilibrio estructural de Harary y Cartwright; en la antropología destacan John Barnes, J. Clyde Mitchell y, especialmente, Elizabeth Bott; desde la sociología también se ha entendido el ARS como una variedad de la teoría general de la Sociología estructural con autores como Radcliffe-Brown y, sobre todo, Simmel. En el ámbito español suele considerarse pionero en la introducción del ARS el artículo "El concepto de red social" de Félix Requena Santos en la Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas (REIS). También ha sido fructífero el trabajo de Josep A. Rodríguez desde el Departamento de Sociología y Análisis de las Organizaciones de la Universidad de Barcelona y el Grupo de Análisis de Redes (NAGAR) y el de José Luis Molina desde el Departamento de Antropología Social y Cultural de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona y su grupo de investigación Egoredes. Sin embargo, hemos de advertir que nuestro objeto de estudio no es el concepto tradicional y sociológico de Red Social, sino que nosotros indagamos sobre las características, efectos, desarrollo y evolución de las Redes Sociales en Internet. En esta parcela, son mucho menos numerosos los estudios e investigaciones que actualmente encontramos, especialmente en el campo de las Ciencias del Periodismo. Si bien es cierto que desde el principio Internet, las Redes Sociales y el desarrollo tecnológico han despertado el interés de la Academia, la mayoría de los estudios que encontramos carecen aún de la profundidad y la amplitud necesarias. En efecto, nos hallamos ante un fenómeno coetáneo y de imparable evolución, lo cual no nos permite gozar de perspectiva histórica para su análisis. Sin embargo, es imprescindible la realización de investigaciones exploratorias que empiecen a teorizar y argumentar sobre los procesos de los que son testigos. En el ámbito internacional hallamos las aportaciones de autores como el propio Stanley Milgram y su teoría del mundo pequeño; Dan Gillmor y sus aportaciones sobre el Periodismo Ciudadano; Davenport y Prusak y sus estudios sobre la gestión del conocimiento; Fowler y Christakis y sus estudios sobre el poder las Redes Sociales; Godins y su concepto de ideavirus; Jeff Jarvis y el marketing de código abierto; Palfrey y Gassser y su descripción del nativo digital; Rheingol y sus observaciones sobre las comunidades virtuales y las multitudes inteligentes; Lévy y su idea de inteligencia colectiva; Prensky y su teoría de la inmigración digital… Dentro del habla castellana o española también encontramos una serie de autores que se han convertido en referencia dentro de la temática de Redes Sociales en Internet y sus diversas implicaciones sociales y profesionales. No podemos dejar de citar el trabajo y las contribuciones de autores como Manuel Castells y su teoría sobre la Sociedad de la Información y la Sociedad en Red; Enrique Dans y sus constantes reflexiones sobre tecnología y evolución; José Luis Orihuela y sus indagaciones en torno a la Cibercultura, Periodismo y Comunicación digital; Ugarte y su concepto de ciberturba en torno al papel de las Redes Sociales en la movilización social; Alfons Cornellá y su indagación sobre la gestión del conocimiento en red; Juan Varela, José Manuel Gómez y Méndez y Sandra Méndez Muros y su visión del Periodismo Ciudadano; Juan Freire; Mariano Cebrián; Jesús Miguel Flores Vivar; María Ángeles Cabrera González; Antonio Fumero; Adolfo Plasencia; Javier Celaya; Ramón Salaverría; Luis Rull… Diversos investigadores han optado también por esta temática en su andadura hacia la consecución del título de Doctor. Aparte de nuestro caso y de la presente Tesis Doctoral, debemos señalar la investigación llevada a cabo por Sonia Ruiz Blanco sobre la evolución del blog y el papel del receptor en generador y emisor de contenidos y la de César Viana Teixeira en torno a una concepción de las Redes Sociales como modelos de agencias ciudadanas de Comunicación. Desde el ámbito de la Comunicación también encontramos investigaciones de Tesis Doctoral que indagan acerca de los aspectos publicitarios y de marketing de estas herramientas, tal y como la de Fanny Yolanda Paladines Galarza, la de Pedro Álvaro Pereira Correia o la de Virginia Piazzo. Desde la organización y la gestión de empresas encontramos las Tesis Doctorales de Mª. del Carmen Alarcón del Amo o la de Silvia Rodríguez Donaire. Destacamos también las investigaciones de Pedro Román Graván, de Marco Vinicio Ferruzca Navarro o de Paloma López Sánchez, todas ellas insertadas en el campo educativo. Desde otras parcelas como las Matemáticas o la propia Informática también se han realizado interesantes trabajos de Tesis Doctorales, si bien las perspectivas aplicadas en estas investigaciones se alejan considerablemente de nuestra acotación del objeto de estudio, por lo que tienen menos pertinencia en nuestra investigación. Consideramos oportuna la realización de una investigación con rigor científico que sea capaz de analizar el papel de los Medios de Comunicación y de la propia profesión ante una evolución tecnológica evidente que ha conllevado nuevas fórmulas de comunicación social y ante una sociedad interconectada con nuevos hábitos y costumbres pero también con nuevas demandas y exigencias. Los orígenes de Internet se remontan a los años de la Guerra Fría y nace como un proyecto de investigación en redes de conmutación de paquetes, dentro del ámbito militar. A finales de los años sesenta el Departamento de Defensa Americano (DoD) llegó a la conclusión de que su sistema de comunicaciones basado en la comunicación telefónica (Red Telefónica Commutada, RTC) era demasiado vulnerable, puesto que establecía enlaces únicos y limitados entre importantes nodos o centrales, con el consiguiente riesgo de quedar aislado parte del país en caso de un ataque militar sobre esas arterias de comunicación. Como alternativa, el citado Departamento de Defensa, a través de su Agencia de Proyectos de Investigación Avanzados (Advanced Research Projects Agency, ARPA) decidió estimular las redes de ordenadores hasta llegar a una red experimental de cuatro nodos, que arrancó en diciembre de 1969, se denominó ARPAnet. La idea central de esta red era conseguir que la información llegara a su destino aunque parte de la red estuviera destruida. De esta manera nacen los cimientos de Internet. Hoy, su gran popularización y asimilación por parte de la ciudadanía nos lleva a reflexionar sobre la evolución de una herramienta que nació con fines militares y que en la actualidad tiene una clara orientación social. Como expresa Millán, Internet es el fruto caliente de la Guerra Fría pues "aquel producto de la guerra fría se ha convertido (valga el juego de palabras) en el medio más caliente de la actualidad". Al hablar de Internet en España hemos de tener en cuenta que su origen, evolución y situación actual tienen unas características definitorias concretas. Si bien es cierto que los inicios fueron más tardíos y lentos que en otras áreas geográficas, hemos de reconocer que en la actualidad existe un abultado número de usuarios con una gran actividad en los contextos digitales. Desde la aparición de Internet, el crecimiento de número de usuarios ha ido a un ritmo exponencial, alcanzando los 2.400 millones de usuarios en todo el mundo en 2012, según la empresa de servicios online Pingdom. En España, un total de 25 millones de personas se conectaron a Internet en diciembre de 2013, lo que supone un 9,5% más que en el mismo mes de 2011, según el informe elaborado por la consultora Barlovento con datos de la empresa de medición comScore. En octubre de 2012, Facebook llegó a los 1.000 millones de usuarios, con más de 600 millones de usuarios móviles. En Twitter existen ya más de 140 millones de usuarios activos, enviándose más de 340 de millones de tweets al día. Más de mil millones de usuarios únicos visitan YouTube cada mes, reproduciéndose más de 4.000 millones de horas de vídeo al mes. Cada vez más gente se conecta y por más tiempo. En 2012 ese tiempo aumentó un 21%, con respecto a 2011. Los usuarios invierten más tiempo en las Redes Sociales que en otros sitios de Internet. En EE.UU., por ejemplo, el 17% del tiempo en Internet están en la Red Social Facebook. En cuanto al tiempo dedicado por persona a las Redes Sociales: por género, son las mujeres con 8:37 horas al mes a través del ordenador y 9:43 horas a través de dispositivo móvil. En cuanto a franja de edad y género, quienes más tiempo pasan son los hombres de entre 18 a 24 años y las mujeres de entre 25 a 34 años que están 11 horas al mes. Sociales han irrumpido en nuestra sociedad y en nuestras formas de comunicación transformando el panorama actual. Como ya hemos dicho, el paradigma comunicacional ha variado, se ha visto alterado por estas plataformas 2.0 generando nuevas maneras de informar y ser informados. Por lo tanto, la principal innovación en esta investigación es que en ella se entremezclan tres elementos que en la práctica están inevitablemente vinculados: las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación en general y las Redes Sociales en particular; la sociedad interconectada y el ciudadano 2.0 "prosumidor"; y el Periodismo, los Medios de Comunicación y el periodista. La actual sociedad "viene marcada por la aparición de nuevos sectores laborales, la complejidad de los procesos y los productos alcanzados, la inmediatez, el progreso y la búsqueda constante de la eficacia, la globalización de los medios de comunicación, el pluralismo ideológico y la multifocalidad de la comunidad. Pero de todos estos hechos, sobresale el hecho de que las nuevas tecnologías giran en torno a todos los procesos de la información y de la comunicación". La realización de esta Tesis Doctoral se justifica por la necesidad de estudiar las características comunicacionales surgidas tras el fenómeno 2.0 y sus repercusiones en el ejercicio, estructura y recepción del Periodismo. Se ha indagado esta temática en primer lugar desde un punto de vista de la teoría, creando un importante corpus teórico sobre nuestro objeto de estudio. Además, se ha realizado un estudio de campo analizando aspectos concretos de nuestro objeto de estudio e intentando vislumbrar algunas dinámicas y tendencias en el Periodismo y la sociedad actual. Por lo tanto, se trata de una justificación doble: la primera consiste en hacer una aportación teórica, lo más completa posible, sobre las características de las Redes Sociales en Internet y el Periodismo y la sociedad bajo el paraguas de la comunicación 2.0; y la segunda es ofrecer un estudio detallado sobre las repercusiones y transformaciones reales que se están dando en el Periodismo y en el contexto social donde éste tiene lugar.

Die Corona-Pandemie wird den Schulbetrieb wahrscheinlich auch noch im Schuljahr 2020/2021 erheblich einschränken. Dabei stellen sich jenseits der Fragen zum Gesundheitsschutz zunehmend auch solche, die den Kern der Schule als Bildungsinstitution betreffen. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit muss dabei bildungsbenachteiligten Schüler*innen und solchen mit speziellen Förderbedarfen zu Teil werden, denn vieles spricht dafür, dass die Schere zwischen Kindern aus sozial privilegierten und benachteiligten Familien in Folge der Schulschließungen weiter aufgegangen ist. Diese Entwicklung wird sich im Zuge einer schrittweisen Öffnung der Schule fortsetzen, wenn nicht bewusst gegengesteuert wird. Notwendig ist deshalb eine breite bildungswissenschaftliche Diskussion über Ansätze und Maßnahmen, die zum Abbau der neu entstandenen und der schon bestehenden Bildungsungleichheiten beitragen. Im ersten Teil dieses Bandes werden Ergebnisse aus Erhebungen im Frühjahr 2020 vorgestellt, die Aufschluss darüber geben, wie Schüler*innen, Eltern und pädagogisches Personal die mit dem Fernunterricht verbundenen Herausforderungen erlebt haben. Die Beiträge des zweiten Teils widmen sich schulischen Problemfeldern. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Ungleichheitsthematik fassen sie kurz den Forschungsstand zu rechtlichen, pädagogischen, didaktischen und anderen Fragen zusammen und leiten daraus Vorschläge ab, wie Schule, Unterricht und Lernen unter den voraussichtlich noch länger andauernden Einschränkungen und darüber hinaus gestaltet werden könnten. Das Beiheft richtet sich an eine bildungspolitisch interessierte Öffentlichkeit und insbesondere an diejenigen, die in der Bildungspolitik, der Bildungsadministration und natürlich in den Schulen Verantwortung für die Gestaltung des Unterrichts und für schulisches Lernen tragen. (DIPF/Orig.)

Ein Anspruch von Lernwerkstätten ist es, an der Entwicklung der jeweiligen Institution mitzuwirken. Der Band zeigt die Bedeutung von Hochschullernwerkstätten für die Gestaltung von Hochschullandschaft(en) und fokussiert fünf Themenbereiche: Welche historischen Entwicklungen lassen sich feststellen? Wodurch werden die Selbstverständnisse in Hochschullernwerkstätten geprägt? Wie können Hochschulen und Universitäten von Prozessen der Inklusion / Exklusion in Hochschullernwerkstätten partizipieren? Welche spezifischen Perspektiven werden in Bezug auf Professionalisierung und Reflexion deutlich? Inwiefern können Kooperationen und kooperatives Lernen innerhalb von Hochschullernwerkstätten auf andere universitäre Bereiche übertragen werden? (DIPF/Orig.)

Issue 60.3 of the Review for Religious, 2001. ; Explorations Religious Life Heritages Faithful ~Witness MAY JUNE 2001 VOLUME 60 NUMBER 3 Review for Re, ligious,helps people respond and he faithful to God's universal call to holiness by ~naking available t_o them the spiritual legacies tbat flow from the cbarisms of Catholic consecrated life. Review for Religious (ISSN 0034-639X) is published bimonthly at Saint Louis University by the Jesuits of the Missouri Province. Editorial Office: 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, Missouri 63108-3393 Telephone: 314-977-7363 ¯ Fax: 314-977-7362 E-Mail: review@slu.edu ¯ Web site: g~r,v.reviewforreligious.org Manuscripts, books for review, and correspondence with the editor: Review for Religious ¯ 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, MO 63108-3393 Correspondence about the Canonical Counsel department: Elizabeth McDonough OP Mount St. Mary's Seminary; Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727 POSTMASTER Send address changes to Review for Religious ¯ P.O. Box 6070 ¯ Duluth, MN 55806. Periodical postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri, and additional mailing offices. See inside back cover for information on subscription rates. ©2001 Review for Religious Permission is herewith granted to copy any material (articles, poems, reviews) contained in this ~ssue of Review for Religious for personal or internal use, or for the personal or internal use of specific library clients within the limits outlined in Sections 107 and/or 108 of the United States Copyright Law. All copies made under this permission must bear notice of the source, date, and copyright owner on the first page. This permission is NOT extended to copying for commercial distribu-tion, advertising, institutional promotion, or for the creation of new collective works or anthologies. Such permission will only be considered on written application to t.he Editor, Review for Religious. for religious LIVING OUR CATHOLIC LEGACIES Editor Associate Editors Canonical Counsel Editor Editorial Staff Advisory Board David L. Fleming SJ Clare Boehmer ASC Philip C. Fischer SJ Elizabeth McDonough OP Mary Ann F~ppe Tracy Gramm Judy Sharp James and Joan Felling AdrianGaudin SC Sr. Raymond Marie Gerard FSP Joel Rippinger OSB Bishop Carlos A. Sevilla sJ Patricia Wittherg SC MAY JUNE 2001 VOLUME 60 NUMBER 3 contents explorations 230 "Women Religious, Women Deacons? Phyllis Zagano explores why a woman, secular or religious, would seek ordination as a deacon and what questions this poses f6r the corporate life of a religious institute. 245 Confidentiality: Are Religious Superiors Always Bound? Vimal Tirimanna CSSR explores whether there are limits to the professional confidentiality to be kept by ministers and religious superiors and the need for appropriate norms and sanctions. 254 The Computer's Edge: Some Social and Ethical Concerns Linda Herndon OSB introduces some of the s~cial and ethical issues in the computer world, raising some questions, and proposing some practical responses, to stimulate further discussion. 262 269 religious life Authenticity and Contact with Youth Robert P. Maloney CM calls for an asceticism of authenticity that engages and challenges young people in their passion for Christ. Obedience: Vow and Virtue in Our Contemporary World Kathy Dunne RC looks at the vow of obedience as it is born of love, forms us as lovers, and bears the fruit of love. Review for Religious 277 286 heritages ¯ Mechthild of Magdeburg's Spiritual Pilgrimage William C. Zehringer traces the complex pilgrimage story of the medieval mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg. The Poverello's Legacy Bonaventure Stefun OFMCap gives many Franciscan exemplars of poverty as lived through the centuries, all united by Francis's key notion of attachment to Jesus. 295 308 faithful witness Here I Am You Called Me? Marie Beha OSC delves into the meaning of presence, considering especially how we might respond more fully to God and to others. Leap Over the Wall: Why Did I Not? Mary Anne Huddleston IHM offers her personal witness to the commitment value of consecrated life. departments 228 Prisms 314 Canonical Counsel: Requirements for Temporary Profession 320 Book Reviews May-June 2001 prisms To opposing tendencies vie within us from the very beginning of life. Human beings are described as always struggling to stay within the comfort life of the womb and yet pushing to find a con-tinuing newness of life outside the womb. We rejoice in the known, the familiar, what has always been, the traditional. We can be enlivened also by the unknown, what is new and untried, the innovative. A healthy passage between these two human tendencies is caught up in the activity called exploration. Our growth as chil-dren came through exploration; we grow as adults only if we continue regularly to experience the exploratory passage, a passage that joins the past to the future. When John Paul II made his appeal for a new evan-gelization, it was an exploratory call. It was not imme-diately evident to all of us Catholics how far this call extended. We are beginning to realize that a new evan-gelization takes in not just ways of proclaiming the gospel that are effective for our time but also ways of celebrating that proclamation. The latest revisioning of the sacramentary and lectionary is a part of this continuing renewal of our efforts in celebrating the Eucharist as the central mystery of our faith. We con-tinue to explore the passage between the liturgical rites as we have known them and a new formulation of these rites that may more effectively help today's people understand their meaning in relation to contemporary patterns of thought and expectation. A liturgical spirituality rightly has pride of place. But so-called "popular" devotions are important too. In the Roman Catholic Latin rite, expression found in liturgical prayer usually remains formal, with feelings restricted and subjective emotions set aside--whatever the vernacular translation. The more personal and emo- Review for Reli#ous tive piety that was characteristic of Catholic devotional life in the 19th and 20th centuries--expressed in popular language and images--necessarily had to recede in importance after Vatican Council II. The explorations central to our faith expression in baptism, Eucharist, and reconciliation focused all of our worship-ing energy. Marian devotions, Sacred Heart devotions, Eucharistic holy hours, and Stations of the Cross suffered a time of eclipse. Granted that the central place of the Eucharistic celebration and the other sacraments has been properly positioned for us Catholics, we are now enabled to express our persistent hunger and need to nourish our Catholic life also in nonliturgical or, perhaps more positively, more personal and popular ways. As an integral part of our actively entering into our new evangelization, we need to explore devotions that do not seem to be relics of the past, but rather are "new" prayerful ways of celebrating our faith that express the yearnings of our hearts today. What form will these explorations take? We cannot say since devotional life is so much shaped by the social and cultural milieu in which we live. Devotions need contemporary imaging, vocal expressions, and musical or quasi-musical rhythms that appeal to today's people. For example, does the May procession and crown-ing of Mary as queen--a memory many Catholics treasure-- emphasize rather the distancing of Mary from our daily experience rather than her closeness? What may have been "devotional" at a particular time may not be a fitting expression and imaging today. Does a 40-hour Eucharistic devotion fit the rhythm of our social milieu or would a 7 p.m.zto-12 midnight or a 24-hour, all-night vigil speak better? We need to explore how these "old" devotions can be truly a part of our new evangelization; our exploration is an effort to stretch personal and group memories into personal and group hopes and expressions. We may look to the renewal of some of our older devotions such as the devotion to the Sacred Heart (identified of old with the month of June) or we may seek to honor and find our own life-inspiration by devotions expressed for one of our newly canon-ized saints who combines charity with a j3rophetic thirst for justice. Regardless, we are responding to the call for a new evangelization. Exploration is necessary for a faith that is alive and well. No, bet-ter said, exploration is necessary for us believers who want to grow in our maturity in Christ. David L. Fleming SJ May-~une 2001 explorations PHYLLIS ZAGANO Women Religious, Women Deacons? In recent years, discussion about Catholic women's ordi-nation has centered on the priesthood, and the diaconate " has been seen primarily as a step toward priesthood. The official opposition to the ordination of women as priests is well and widely known. But the official position on the ordination of women to the diaconate is that it is "under study." Conflict about the impossibility of women becoming pries(s has obscured the possibility of their becoming deacons even though, after the revival of the per.manent diaconate in the West, the concept of permanent women deacons found significant support.~ Today wtrldwide requests by individuals and groups to have'women ordained to serve the people of God strengthen the notion that the church could restore the female diaconate.2 Such possi-bility, if not probability, provides the opportunity for apostolic institutes and individual religious t6 question whether ordination would be appropriate for them cor-porately, or individually, or both. Phyllis Zagano is founding cochair of the Roman Catholic Studies Group of.the American Academy of Religion and author most recently of.Holy Saturday: An ,qrgument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconafe in tbe Catholic Church (Crossroad). She can be reached c/o Crossroad Publishing Company; 481 Eighth Avenue, #1550; New York, N.Y. 10011; and at pzagano@rcn.com. Review for Religious Why would a woman, secular or religious, wish to be ordained? There is significant resistance among women to becoming involved in a system widely viewed as patriarchal, especially in what is arguably a subservient role. Some say there is no need for ordi-nation, since everything a deacon does can be done with special permission by a lay person. Some focus on other issues. Others say the diaconate is not enough. The answers that affirm a woman's request for diaconal ordi-nation are as individual as each person's vocation to live a life of prayer and service. The unfolding of a single lifelong quest for God has many different layers, and vocations often grow in unex-pected directions. The deacon's vocation is to a life as "minister of the word, of the liturgy, and of charity.''3 Numbers of women's institutes find one or another of these calls, perhaps all, in their founding documents. In fact, women religious are always involved in works of charity, as they can be most broadly described, and their service is similar if not identical to that of deacons. Hence, why should women religious not be formally present and repre-sented in the liturgy? It is women religious who most clearly and most publicly enflesh the gospel. Why should they not proclaim it at Mass and explain, it in a homily? Realistically speaking, women religious are increasingly involved in diaconal work and works, and the charism of orders could only strengthen their commitments and their service. The church itself, both informally and formally, has called forth women to expressly diaconal work and works, that is, work and works that could be more fully served by women deacons. As Doris Gottemoeller RSM pointed out a few years ago, women religious are increasingly parochialized~ to the point that hundreds are parish administrators and are also increasingly involved in professional institutional chaplaincy. Further, official Vatican documents repeat-edly call for inclusion of women in official roles in the church.4 As more women are more involved (even t~ull-time) in diaconal ministries, the need to ordain them becomes clearer, in order to better serve the people of God. For example, there are obvious drawbacks when a woman religious working as a pastoral associate or chaplain does not have the ordinary authority to celebrate bap-tisms solemnly, or witness marriages, or preach, or fully lead litur-gical prayer, all of which ordained deacons do when they have standard faculties.5 If women religious are already serving in clerical roles, why not May-June 2001 Zagano ¯ Women Religious, Women Deacons? add diaconal ordination to their religious charisms? Perhaps obvi-ously the answer is that the nature of lay religious life is different from the nature of clerical religigus life. For an apostolic insti-tute to ordain members, or to incorporate new members already ordained, would imply a change in its nature. Since the church in the West might at any time return to its tradition of a permanent female diaconate, these considerations are real. Even if only hypo-thetically for now, women religious might individually and cor-porately consider the possibilities and consequences of ordination. Six questions asked by the ordaining prelate in the liturgy of ordination combine to form the perfect discernment tool with regard to religious life and the diaconate. The considerations given below do not and could not cover the combinations and permu-tations in every individual case. But they can open the door to additional individual or group discernment on this important pos-sibility. Can a woman religious answer yes to these six questions? More importantly, should she? 1. Are you willing to be ordained for the church's ministry by the laying on of hands and the gift of the Holy Spirit? The woman who might be ordained would be ordained to ministry--of the word, the liturgy, and of charity. A woman reli-gious, therefore, would have the nature of her public Commitment permanently changed. The ordination to ministry would not nec-essarily replace her celibate commitment to a life of prayer and service within her apostolic religious institute, but it would change it. Here she is asked to be available not only for the works of char-ity for which deacons are known, but for "the church's mi.nistry"-- the church's pastoral ministry--of baptizing, marrying, preaching, and burying the dead. This question asks if the deacon candidate will accept the pro-fessional obligations of ministry. The church's pastoral ministry already includes many apostolic women religious; they are pas-toral associates, performing almost every work an associate pastor might. In ~iddition, women religious run the parish soup kitchen and family center, oversee catechetics and the RCIA program. The gradual shift during the last century by institutes of apostolic reli-gious from teaching or nursing in their own institutions to other historically usual works of the deacon, often within the diocesan structure, underscores the whole church's calling women to wider ministries. Women, and especially women religious, are indeed doing the work of ordained deacons. But they are not ordained. As Review for Religious I have argued elsewhere, it is not desirable for the church to con-fuse vows with ordination,6 and so I would argue here that those who are already involved in "the church's ministry" might consider the strengthening of their pastoral charisms through ordination. For the sake of discussion, we can assume that the majority of women religious who would seek diaconal ordination would also choose to remain members of their own religious institutes. Their vocational discernment would need to separate the charism of celibacy in consecrated life from the charism of ordained diaconal life, which does not require celibacy, and from the charism of celibate ordained life. While the vocation to celibate life in community is not identical to the vocation to ordained life, the two vocations are not mutually exclusive. That is, consecrated celibacy and ecclesial ministry are not mutually exclusiye, but each requires separate consideration and support. As Sandra Schneiders has recently pointed out, a "coherent theological framework within which prayer, sacramental life, and ministry make sense in themselves and in relation to each other is cru-cial to the relationship with Jesus Christ that alone justifies com-mitment in consecrated, celibacy that is at the heart of religious life.''7 By contrast, professional ministerial commitment is open to all, celibate or married, "~ho find themselves called to identify with the ministry of Christ: The charism of celibacy can be seen as analogous but not identical to the deacon's call to be minister of the word, the liturgy, and of charity. Again, the call to diaconal ministry does not nec-essarily include celibacy. While the charism of consecrated celibacy might be more broadly experienced by the church if the majority of ordained women religious remained in their institutes, as such this charism should not be confused with the separate and distinct call to diaconal orders. The call to the diaconate is specifically and primarily "f6r the church's ministry," not for an apostolic min-istry arising from celibate commitment within a religious .insti- I would argue that those who are already involved in "the church's ministry" might consider the s~rengthening of their pastoral charisms through ordination. May-June 2001 Zagano ¯ Women Religious, Women Deacons? tute, even though the two calls may coexist in one person and in one institute. The operative points in this question are whether and how the woman religious would participate in the church's ministry while remaining a member of her institute. Those are matters of discernment to be taken up by her,.her superior, and--if she is the first of her institute to ask to be ordained--by the chapter of her institute. 2. Are you resolved to discharge the office of deacon with humility and love in order to assist the bishop and the priests and to serve the people of Christ? There is an ancient document in which a bishop sets forth the qualities necessary for women to be ordained deacons. His major concern is that they be able to get along with the priests.9 Church history, then and now, is replete with examples of ten-sions between priests and deacons. Humility is not humiliation, but many contemporary deacons suffer the latter in their relations with priests, who in many cases just do not know what to do with them and are often threatened by their presence. These insecuri-ties will not be cured by adding ordained women to the mix, but they might be overcome through hard work and loving consider-ation on both sides. There is no question that priests need assis-tance in the pastoral care of souls, and many have learned how to effectively and professionally accept the assistance both of women, secular and religious, and of deacons; the new challenge would be to accept the assistance of women deacons. But the diaconate is not the priesthood, and an objection to the church's potential returning of women to the ranks of ordained deacons (without creating women priests) is that the women dea-cons would still be serving in subordinate positions to men. In many cases, of course, this is true. Yet significant numbers of men serve in the same subordinate positions to other men. Also, many deacons serve in leadership positions in rural dioceses and mis-sion territories. The many women serving in similar situations would be able.to expand their ministries if they were ordained. One source of tension between priests and deacons might dis-appear if the majority of women ordained were to remain as mem-bers of their religious institutes. Currendy most permanent deacons are married. Very few of the unmarried deacons are religious, pointing to a clear distinction between the vocations even though they are combined in the lives of some individuals. There are Review for Religious 25,345 deacons in 129 countries around the world, of whom 514, or two percent, are religious,l° In contrast, there are 404,208 priests in the world, of whom 140,687, or thirty-five percent, are reli-gious, l' These statistics seem to indicate that the distinction between celibate secular and religious life among the ordained is clear, but the vocations are not mutually exclusive. Whether thirty-three percent (the percentage of religious among today's deacons and priests) of the women ordained to the diaconate would become or remain members of religious insti-tutes is, of course, unknown. It is not likely that women candidates for the dia-conate would come mostly from women religious. Rather, many older married women and widows might seek to ratify and intensify through diaconal ordina-tion their commitments to their current volunteer or professional service of the people of God as catechists, lectors, Eucharistic ministers,.and chaplains or pastoral associates. Similarly, young Catholic women now in master-of-divin-ity programs in Protestant and Catholic .seminaries might seek diaconal ordination. Current statistics on lay catechists and other church workers suggest that seventy per-cent of women deacons would be married or single seculars and thi'rty percentof women deacons would be members of religious institutes. The challenge to all the women who envision possible ordi-nation to the diaconate is to recognize with h.umility and love that, practically speaking, they would be assisting the priests, but that their reason for being ordained is to serve the people of God. 3. Are you resolved to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, as the Apostle urges, and to proclaim this faith in word and action as it is taught by the gospel and the church's tradition? A significant number of the women presently engaged in min-isterial studies are in programs at denominational or interde-nominational Protestant seminaries. There are many reasons for this. Such seminaries are generally in cities, often near or even attached to major" universities, and therefore accessible. These seminaries are often well endowed, and they have substantial schol- It is not likely that women candidates for the diaconate would come mostly from women religious. May-June 2001 Zagano ¯ Women Religious, Women Deacons? arship programs available to women. And master-of-divinity pro-grams at American Catholic seminaries, and specifically at dioce-san seminaries, are not generally available to women. VChile many Catholic seminaries have a second-track "institute" that allows those who are not candidates for priesthood to study with the same faculty, the training offered is not identical and formation possibilities are often minimal. The extraordinary success of the programmatic exceptions to these general statements proves the thirst of many for professional training and ministry formation by and for Catholics. But, in fact, many Catholic women have studied and continue to study at Protestant seminaries; they are or soon will be ministering in dia-conal roles throughout the country. Not all are fully convinced of all church teachings, and their Protestant training has not pro-vided support for such acceptance. It remains to be seen whether they could be resolved to hold with a clear conscience "the mys-tery of the faith., and the church's tradition." The controversial issues that secular women students and min-isters presently consider, sometimes outside the boundaries of ordinary church teaching, might not be so prevalent among reli-gious, or at least among women religious who might be ordained to the diaconate. Even so, there are current ways of discussing certain topics, principally homosexuality, abortion, contraception, and priestly ordination for women, that could render women can-didate~ ineligible for diaconal ordination. Further, there are mis-conceptions and misperceptions about certain church dogmas, from Eucharist to original sin, that would similarly end an indi-vidual candidacy on its merits rather than on the question of gen-der. If these variant positions are indelibly held, for whatever reason, then the woman in question might still be able to minis-ter as a lay catechist--as many currently do--without diaconal ordination. In fact, some might considerdiaconal ordination a hindrance to ministry rather than an enhancement. There is a trend toward this way of thinking among some women in the church. The issue is not necess~arily bound up with any of the neuralgic questions listed above; it is, rather, managing to live a ministerial life without entering the hierarchy or, bluntly, the "male" system. The individual woman not in diaconal orders is in no way bound to the bishop and need not fear his pro-nouncements except insofar as she is employed by him or by one of his parishes or agencies. Even so, many parishes and agencies Review for Religious retain employees whose full consent with all church teaching is neither required nor requested, except perhaps officially. Any effort by an individual bishop to formally require such consent is viewed as draconian at best, and so short-staffed bishops in good economic times can tend to let well enough alone, and not enter too deeply into parish and agency employee matters. The woman, secular or religious, who would seek diaconal orders would have to answer some difficult questions in her own heart and mind about Magisterial teaching, not the least of which would be the theological anthropology, history, sacramental the-ology, and ecclesiology that would allow her to be ordained a deacon while refusing her priestly orders. Hence there is every possibility that individual women can-didates for ordination might have problems when asked if they "hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, as the Apostle urges, and [will] proclaim this faith in word and action as it is taught by the gospel and the church's tradition." 4. Are you resolved to maintain and deepen a spirit of prayer appropriate to your way of life and, in keeping with what is required of you, to celebrate faithfully the liturgy of the hours for the church and for the whole world? This is an interesting consideration for apostolic women reli-gious. The celebration of the liturgy of the hours generally required of all clerics includes the office of readings, morning prayer, one daytime prayer, evening prayer, and night prayer. Though this fourth question includes some interesting phrases, "appropriate to your way of life" and "in keeping with what is required of you," one can .assume that up to an hour of each day is expected to be devoted to the liturgy of the hours, in addition to the time given to the liturgy of the Eucharist and any private meditation, scripture study, and spiritual reading. This is a significant commitment of time. Contemplative and monastic orders celebrate the full liturgy either publicly (spending considerably more than an hour) or both privately and publicly, but many apostolic women religious are no longer accustomed to praying even a portion of the liturgy of the hours, even privately. Along with their living more in nontradi-tional settings, formal prayer in choir has diminished. These changes in institutional religious life at first created a growth medium for different types of communal prayer, often developed by individuals 6r by individual communities. Continued changes May-ffune 2001 Zagano ¯ Wonten Religious, Wotnen Deacons? in communal life, however, have often led to the dropping even of these individualized prayer services from daily to perhaps monthly gatherings, usually with members of 'an intentional prayer group rather than with the "same roof' community. Each permutat!on moves apostolic religious farther from the tradition of praying the liturgy of the hours "for the church and for the whole world," both publicly and privately. A woman religious who would accept the obligations of the liturgy of the hours might find herself limited by time and space from participating in the life-giving communal prayer that nour-ished her desire to seek ordination in the first place. It wouid be as difficult to choose one or the other as it would be to choose both. Where the development of differing types of communal prayer for and among women religious has in many cases created opportunities for growth, it has also intensified the male-female divide, where most of the men (as clerics) and most of th~ women (as apostolic religious) have habits of prayer that are distinct from each other. (In North America, as is true worldwide, there are about twice as many apostolic women religious as priests, secular or religious.12) One would think, therefore, that the obligation to pray the liturgy of the hours might present a challenge to women. But, while all clerics are obliged to celebrate the liturgy of the hours, diocesan directors of diaconate programs state that few deacons do. This is the import of the phrases "appropriate to your way of life" and "in keeping with what is required of you." Typical married working deacons are sincerely encouraged to pray at least thd "hinges" of the day: morning and evening prayer, and night prayer too. Many, if not most, cannot pray the office of readings. Some cannot attend daily Mass. Some do not engage daily in extended personal prayer or scripture reading. While this information is anecdotal at best, it seems little would be actually added to the schedule of a woman religious, whose personal and communal practices probably already exceed those of the typical deacon. So this question could clearly be answered in the affirmative by the. woman religious who sought ordination to the diaconate. 5. Are you resolved to shape your way of life always according to the example of Christ, whose bo.dy and blood you will give to the people? The question is deceptively simple for women religious, whose lives are a constant endeavor to conform their whole' beings to Review for Religious Christ. That they have been engaged in such a struggle for their entire adult lives creates in some cases a distance between them and most secular candidates for the permanent diaconate or the priest-hood. While the emphasis in religious formation is on formation, and in seminary training on training, deacon candidates do receive a certain amount of formation. But religious formation-- focusing as it does, or at least has done, on prayer, life in community, and participation in institutional ministries--creates a qualitative dif-ference that is sometimes strikingly obvious. Many personal qualities stressed in the formation of women religious can translate positively to ordained diaconal service, just as in the case of the ordained service of men religious. A specific attitude of prayer, and selfless ded-ication to mission, are sometimes difficult to obtain later in life, especially by married candidates for orders who have the complica-tions of their secular lives to deal with: spouses, children, grandchil-dren, mortgages, careers, and political life. Of course, the differences can be seen both positively and nega-tively. Since the secular laity con-stitute ninety-nine percent of the church, one might argue that, rather than from among women religious, deacons ought be taken from among mature lay people. One might theorize that some of today's criticisms of celibate sec-ular (male) priests would be leveled at celibate secular (female) deacons. Criticisms of religious priests, which could be equally leveled at religious deacons, often revolve around the apparent and sometimes real financial and personal security of priests and religious. Secular lay persons often complain of a sort of "macu-lar degeneration" in the worldview of religious, ~ blindness to cer-tain exigencies of secular life, a chasm of nonunderstanding. While religious, as countercultural witnesses to the gospel, must be inde-pendent of political exigencies, they must recognize and constandy guard against such blindness. The very fact that women religious are personally and financially free to give prophetic witness to unpopular causes runs the risk of overpowering the poor, whom they most wish to serve. Criticism comes easily, and, since no one Many personal qualities stressed in the formation of women religious can translate positively to ordained diaconal service. ~lay-June 2001 Zagano ¯ Women Religious, Women Deacons? knows precisely what it means to be a woman deacon, these shoals and narrows must be viewed as opportunities. The delicate nature of ministry is enclosed in this question: Can the candidate for the diaconate shape a "way of life always according to the example of Christ"? It would be a radical chal-lenge for a woman religious to continue to live her religious pro-fession completely and freely while adding the responsibility of living out the charism of orders. Would she better continue to serve as a lay religious in commitment to the gospel, or would she better combine that commitment with the charism of ordained service? Beyond, would she better incorporate in her religious life and ministry the charism of ordained diaconal service, for which there is little precedent? In fact, the spiritual!ty of the diaconate is not well developed. For the deacon, what does it Mean to shape a way of life according to the example of Christ? What does it mean to shape a way of life according to the example of Christ for the woman who would be a deacon, and who would be considered in rank with other mostly married male deacons? These are questions that will.really only be answered by the first few women deacons. Practically speaking, it may only be women religious who are available to make the rad-ically prophetic choice to be ordained and serve as deacons in what are mostly uncharted waters. 6. Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors? Ordained women religious would remain bound to their supe-riors; ordained secular women would become bound to their dioce-san bishop. When asked of secular candidates, this question would bind a woman to her bishop for all matters: assignments, faculties, man-ner of dress, and so forth, and through him to the universal law of the church. The ordination of secular women to the diaconate would create a class of women whose ministry would be specifically at the disposal of the diocesan bishop. However, when a religious is ordained to the diaconate, this last question refers only to the religious superior and is generally rephrased to reflect the obedience of vowed religious. Only the religious superior gives permission to a member to be ordained; only the religious superior decides what work the religious cleric will take up. No bishop may unilaterally assign a religious to a work, and the local ordinary has authority and jurisdiction only Review for Religqous over what is done in his name, for example, the celebration of liturgies and sacraments (baptisms, marriages, and so forth) and actual work within the diocesan structure. Practically speaking, there may be no advantage to orders for the woman religious outside the diocesan ~tructure, because any-thing she might do that requires clerical status (with the possible exception of preaching homilies at Eucharistic liturgies) would be done in the name of the bishop and with his permission. So the determination here would be whether her religious superior would find ordination necessary for the individual religious's assigned work. That said, there are women reli-gious in the diocesan structure, and the needs of the people of God whom they serve as pastoral associates, tri-bunal judges, chancellors, and chap-lains would be better addressed by a more permanent.authorization, rather than by temporary or ad hoc lay juriso diction.13 The deeper question regarding the ordination of wtmen religious centers on authority and jurisdiction within the religious institute. Institutes of consecrated life are either diocesan or pontifical. Neither is exempt from obedience to ordinaries in matters pertaining to their episcopal authority, but superiors and chapters of institutes retain their power over their members, even if some or all of their members are clerics (canon 596). Canon Law provides for only two types of religious institutes: clerical and lay (canon 588). While, stricdy speaking, clerical insti-tutes must be headed by clerics, men's institutes that include lay brothers have obtained rescripts, or special permissions, to include brothers in their governments. These rescripts indicated that a clerical member of the institute be designated to carry out acts of jurisdiction requiring orders, and it is not clear the need would arise if the only clerical members were deacons. Since the Second Vatican Council, lay institutes have been able to allow members to be ordained without changing the nature of the institutes from lay to clerical.'4 After the 1994 Synod on Consecrated Life, Pope John Paul II established a special com-mission to study jurisdiction questions within mixed (clerical-and- The deeper question regarding the ordination of women religious centers on authority and jurisdiction within the religious institute. Zagano ¯ Women Religious, Women Deacons? lay) institutes, but the provision for lay institutes to remain lay while allowing some of their members to be ordained already exists. So there is no need to assume that the woman religious deacon would automatically cause her institute to give up its essen-tially lay status by allowing her ordination.'s The considerations implied by this final question about respect for and obedience to the ordaining prelate include whether insti-tutes might admit women who were previously ordained. Canon law provides for these exigencies in the case of men previously ordained who wish to enter religious orders, and there is no reason to think, theoretically at least, that ordained secular women could not become members of apostolic institutes of women religious. In discerning her vocation to orders, however, a woman religious would have to discern whether she would choose ordi-nation over membership, should her institute in chapter decline to include ordained members or should her superior decline to give her permission to be ordained. This presents a radical challenge of both vocation and obedience, and underscores the authority of superiors and chapters. These painful possibilities of growth are facts of life. Some women religious might be required to choose between ordination and their religious institutes, but not necessarily between ordi-nation and religious life. Women religious who chose orders over membership might well form new religious institutes, either wholly clerical or clerical-and-lay, creating a new expression of religious life. The larger consideration for women religious corporately is their insertion in the lay state. While canon law says that by its very nature religious life is neither clerical nor lay, women religious can rightly claim "outsider" status to the hierarchical system, even though their public pronouncements and political involvements are identically restricted. It is both significant and interesting that most women's institutes are more clearly led by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious than by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. This is not new: monastics have always sought to be independent of local ordinaries. Whether ordained women religious would shift the balance of an institute remains t6 be seen, but their ordination would clearly depend, among other things, upon the needs of their institute and of the church at large. In this matter the specific charism incorporated in lay religious insti-tutes would need to be guarded, and an institute's decision against Review for Religious their members' becoming ordained would probably depend chiefly upon such a safeguard. Women religious, especially in the United States, are poised in a particular moment of freedom to raise their voices in defense of the poor and the marginalized. Though they comprise an aging population--the median age is approximately sixty-nine--women religious might, in prophetic witness to the gospel, decide that as lay religious they have nothing left to lose and clerical status might change that.~6 But, then again, it might not. The church needs the service of women and of all who would seriously take up the challenge of the gospel. One might say, "Would that all God's people were prophets!" Let us acknowledge that some women religious might better serve as clerics, and others not. Either choice is prophetic. Notes ~ The 1971 report of a committee of the Catholic Theological Society of America, "The Office of Deacon as a Lifetime State," recommended ordaining women deacons and was printed in American Ecclesiastical Review (March 1971), Crux (19 March 1971), Worship (April 1971), and Catholic Mind (May 1971). See also Clergy Review 56 (1971): 891-893. Additional contemporary discussion on the topic can be found in Agnes Cunningham SSCM, "Women and the Diaconate," American Ecclesiastical Review 165 (1971): 158-166; Peter HiJnermann, "Note: Conclusions Regarding the Female Diaconate," Theological Studies 36 (1975): 325- 333; A.M. Tortras, "Women Priests or Women Deacons?" Theology Digest 29, no. 3 (Fall 1981), translation of "~Mujeres Presbftero o Mujeres Di~cono? Apuntes para una Ordenaci6n de la Mujer," Estudios Eclesifisticos 55, no. 214 (1980): 355-368. ' I have presented an argument from theological anthropology, sacra-mental theology, history, ecclesiology, and law in Phyllis Zagano, Holy Saturday: An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church (Crossroad/Herder, 2000). 3 Roman Ritual, Ordination of Deacons. 4 Doris Gottemoeller RSM, "The Priesthood: Implications in Consecrated Life for Women," in A Concert of Charisms: Ordained Ministry in Religious Life, ed. Paul K. Hennessy CFC (New York: Paulist Press, 1997), pp. 127-138. s The Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, first received a renewable rescript to allow lay persons to solemnly baptize and to witness mar-riages in 1990. A few women religious who are administrators of rural parishes and two other lay person.s have been so authorized on a case-by-case basis. 6 Zagano, Holy Saturday, pp. 142-145. 7 Sandra M. Schneiders IHM, Finding the Treasure: Locating Catholic May-June 2001 Zagano ¯ Women-Religious, Women Deacons? Religious Life in a New Ecdesial and Cultural Context (New York: Paulist Press, 2000), p. 149. 8 Schneiders rightly points out that the specific charism of celibacy for religious is distinct from the unmarried state of the secular cleric. 9 Apostolic Canons of the Church, canon 21. See Josephine Mayer, Monumenta de viduis diaconissis virginibusque tractantia (Bonn: P. Hanstein, 1938), which includes a significant collection of early documents about women deacons. 10 "The Permanent Diaconate Today," A Research Report by the Bis}~ops' Committee on the Diaconate of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and by the Center for Applied Research on the Apostolate (June 2000), p. 2. " 2000 Catholic Almanac (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000), p. 345, citing Statistical Yearbook of the Church, 1997. 12 There are 819,279 sisters and 404,208 priests. Statistics do not dif-ferentiate between women religious who are "sisters" in apostolic insti-tutes and those who were formerly called "nuns" in cloistered orders. 2000 Catholic Almanac, p. 345. 13 A committee of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, drawing on the LCWR "Benchmarks" study, is analyzing lay jurisdiction. See Jeanean D. Merkel, ed., Creating a Home: Benchmarks for Church Leadership Roles for Women (Silver Spring, Md.: Leadership Conference of Women Religious, 1996). 14 Canon Law Society of America, The Canonical Implications of Ordaining Women to the Permanent Diaconate (Washington, D.C.: Canon Law Society of America, 1995), pp. 47-48, citing Vatican Council II, Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of Religious Life (Perfectae caritatis), §10. See also Paul Vl, Sacrum diaconatus ordinem, §32, which provides for religious institutes to have some permanent deacons among their members. ~s Territorial monasteries of women present a special case because their prioresses and abbesses have historically had quasi-episcopal author-ity. For the sake of the argument here, we consider only apostolic insti-tutes of women. t6 As of 30 December 1999, the median age of women religious in the United States was 68.49, up from 67.87 in the previous year, according to a study commissioned by the National Religious Retirement Office, Washington, D.C. Review for Religious VIMAL TIRIMANNA Confidentiality: Are Religious Superiors Always Bound? In the Catholic tradition the superiors or animators of reli- .~. gious congregations and communities are expected to respect confidentiality, especially with regard to delicate personal, infor-mation regarding members, to which they have relatively easy access. In church discipline, howdver, there is no official sanction or limit attached to this conventional norm. On the one hand, if a superior violates such confidentiality and thus damages the good name of the confiding member, there are no clear prescriptions in the church's universal law about how the superior is to be dealt with. On the other hand, it is not officially established how a supe-rior ought to act when a member violates the confidentiality and unjustly damages the good name of the superior. Is it only the superior who.is bound by confidentiality? Or, when a member vio-lates confidentiality and damages:the superior's good name (or anyone else's), is the superior still bound by confidentiality? In this essay I attempt to answer these questions, using tradi-tional Catholic moral principles. First I illustrate the point at stake with a real incident well known among religious in Sri Lanka. Then I briefly analyze this kind of confidentiality in terms of its close associate, the professional secret. I examine why conflden- Vimal Tirimanna CSSR is provincial of his congregations's Sri Lankan province and president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Sri Lanka. His address is: 80, Amfritiya Road; Kandy; Sri Lanka. May-.]une 2001 Tirimanna ¯ Confidentiality tiality is essential in certain professions and ministries. Finally I examine whether such professional secrecy always binds the pro-fessional, the minister, the religious superior. A Real Case In 1998 two temporarily professed seminarians (one for four years, one for three) belonging to a clerical religious congrega-tion wrote to their major superior for his approval of their going out to do secular work for a couple of years and thereby testing their vocations. Since the formators and the superiors were already having some serious doubts about these two seminarians' suit-ability for consecrated life, the major superior, with his council's consent, readily approved the request. In the same year another seminarian (temporarily professed for two years) applied for dis-pensation within a week of renewing his vows, saying he Wanted to help his family financially by getting a.secular job. After much hesitation and dialogue, the major superior together with his coun-cil granted the dispensation. At the beginning of the year 2000, all three of these seminar-ians-- with the help of a former, major superior of the same con-gregation (who had been living outside his community illegitimately ever since he left office) and a disgruntled priest member of the same congregation (who had been illegitimately ~bsent for almost two years)--applied to join a diocese in Australia. All three were accepted for the diocese without any consultation of their major superior. The major superior wrote to the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome, inquiring whether such circumventing of him by the bishop was licit. The Roman congregation asked the bishop for an explanation, and the bishop brought this to the notice of the three seminarians. In the mean-time the disgruntled priest member, living in the same diocese, got hold of the three seminarians and together they wrote a letter to Rome maligning the good name of the present major superior, their intention being to belittle his credibility in the eyes of the Roman dicastery and thus influence the latter's decision. The major superior's predecessor also wrote a letter, to the bishop in Australia, holding the present major superior responsible for the "ruin" of the congregation in Sri Lanka, especially for the dwindling number of members, and charging that it was the same superior's ruth-lessness that drove the three seminarians away from the congre- Review for Religious gation. He sent copies of the letter to several bishops and major superiors in Sri Lanka, obviously with the intention of eroding fur-ther the credibility of the major superior. Note here that the major superior, together with his council, had already initiated a canon-ical process against the disgruntled priest who was illegitimately absent in Australia and against the ex-major superior, also illegiti-mately absent from his religious community. Could this be their, way of settling scores with the major superior? On his part, the Australian bishop sent a copy of this let-ter of the ex-major superior to the above-mentioned Roman dicastery to justify his action of not consulting the major supe-rior before he accepted the three semi-narians to his diocese. After weighing all the matters at stake, the Congregation for Catholic Education instructed the Australian bishop, to consult the Sri Lankan major superior, saying that, acc.ording to the accepted official prac-tice, he ought to have consulted him before taking those three seminarians into his diocese. Apparently the Roman congrega-tion's stipulation to consult the major superior at least at that late stage was the only way of settling the issue in a spirit of Christian charity. But what about the damage this entire episode caused to the major superior? His good name was unjustly tarnished, and he had no way of defending himself, which was surely a legitimate right of his. As the major superior, he could not simply divulge certain vital information regarding the three seminarians and two priests-- which would have given the other side of the story and defended him. He was bound by confidentiality. Ironically, confidentiality, which normally serves to protect the good name of the persons involved, has in this case served to silence the major superior and prevent him from defending his own good name. In the light of this real-life situation, one may ask: In religious life, should con-fidentiality serve all the members of a congregation except supe-riors? Should superiors be the victims of confidentiality? Are there circumstances when the superiors would not be bound to confi-dentiality? In religious life, should confidentiality serve all the members of a congregation except superiors ? May-ffune 2001 Tirimanna ¯ Confidentiality What Is Confidentiality? The term confi'dentiality normally has to do with keeping secrets. Something becomes confidential when a private matter is imparted in secret with the trust that it will not be revealed to anyone else.l According to the moral philosopher Sissela Bok, confidentiality refers to the I~oundaries surrounding shared secrets and to the process, of guarding these boundaries. While confi-dentiality protects much that is not in fact secret, personal secrets lie at its core.2 In confidentiality, then, what is at stake is the fidelity, keeping faith with those who have confided their secrets on condition that they not be revealed) Understood in this sense, confidentiality covers a wide range of ordinary day-to-day human dealings, in which two parties or more are bound, at least by tacit agreement, not to reveal what has been confided. Some promi-nent examples have to do with what is called professional secrecy. In his classic work written more than fifty years ago, Robert Regan defined it as follows: The term professional secrecy denotes a specific moral duty inherent in certain offices or functions of a confidential nature exercised in society. It connotes in its simplest form a relationship between one person constituted in some sort of need and another person expert and skilled in caring for such needs and with official or quasi-official authorization to do so. Professional secrecy may be defined as a special moral obligation, binding in both commutative and legal justice, incumbent upon the members of certain confidential pro-fessions, of maintaining a discreet silence with reference to the confidential communications received by them in the course of duty.4 The professional secret, then, springs from the contractual nature of the relationship between the professional and the client. Doctors, lawyers, and priests are traditionally expected to main-tain confidentiality; they are expected not to reveal to third parties the confidential information they receive in their professional capacity from their clients. The well-known Hippocratic oath of doctors and the confessional seal of Catholic priests indicate that such confidentiality has had a long history with regard to some professions. It would be a mistake, however, to believe that pro~ fessional secrecy is expected only from those professions. Many others members of society--such as counselors, government min-isters, bankers, and accountants--are expected to honor this obli-gation of secrecy, though they may not be bound by any official Review for Religious oath or law. Religious superiors would fall into this latter category, and so, in the rest of this essay, one may see religious superiors as "professionals" and members of religious congregations as "clients." On the one hand, the duty of confidentiality enables the pro-fessionals to gain more information in order to offer help to their clients, and, on the other hand, it enables the clients to open them-selves more freely to the professionals in order to receive the help they need. Patients often share with their physicians information so private that they would not consider sharing it even with their closest friends and relatives. Such information is obviously essen-tial for correct diagnosis and appropriate therapy. Confidentiality, professional secrecy, enables patients to reveal such information to physicians. Thus, professional secrecy, while strengthening the professionals' claim to their professional status, is first and fore-most for their clients' benefit.5 Take, for example, a battered wife who has shot her husband in self-defense.6 She might deny that she has shot him at all because, not knowing that killing in self-defense is lawful, she falsely believes herself guilty of murder. In order to give her a fair trial, it is extremely important for her lawyer to get all the relevant information that led to the .shooting so that he can build a case of self-defense in her favor. But, to reveal such information, the client normally needs at least tacit assurance of confidentiality from the lawyer. It is exactly this tacit assurance of confidentiality that professional secrecy normally gives to clients seeking professional assistance. Note here that under normal circumstances, if what has been confided is revealed, the one who confided will again be victimized. The whole purpose of confidentiality is to protect such victims. What we are dealing with in this essay, however, is the peculiar case of confidentiality making a victim of the professional when the one who confided the private information takes undue advantage of the silence that confidentiality demands of the professional. In the relationship we are considering in this essay, namely, that between superiors and members, the "victims" (or clients, mem-bers, receivers of authorized "professional" leadership) become the assailants, using loose talk, letter writing, and other weapons of calumny or slander to attack the professionals. Although reli-gious superiors may have sufficient information at their disposal to defend themselves, they are bound by the obligation of confiden-tiality and thus become victims--as in the real-life illustration we sketched above. May-ffune 2001 L-249-:--- --- 2-5.0A Tirimanna ." Confidentiality May the Confidentiality Assured by the Professional Secrecy Ever Be Violated? From the discussion we have had so far, it should be clear that the obligation to keep professional secrets is mainly justifiable on the grouhds that it assures clients a clear guarantee that the infor-mation confided in professional secrecy would never be revealed and that such a guarantee evokes a sense of trust and credibility in the clients so that they feel free to share information that would help them in seeking professional assistance. Leroy Wakers holds that the main moral justifications for professional confidentiality fall into just two main categories: The major moral justifications for confidentiality fall into two broad categories: consequentialist and nonconsequen-tialist . Consequendalists generally justify the social prac-tice of preserving confidentiality in certain contexts by. arguing that the efficient functioning of the physician-patient or lawyer-client relationship would be impeded without it. Nonconsequentialists (or deontologists) usually justify con-fid~ ndality by relating it either to the duty of promise-keep-ing, if an implied or explicit promise has been made, or to the duty to respect the autonomy of persons, who in this case would otherwise lose control over important information about themselves.7 Having thus very briefly examined the moral justifications of the obligation to keep the professional secrets, we now move on to whether there can ever be circumstances in which such an obli-gation ceases. In other words, are there circumstances that permit or even necessitate the revelation of a professional secret? Should a physician tell an HW-positive patient's spouse or lover about the illness so that he or she can avoid risky sexual behavior? Regan draws attention to a principle, which he attributes to ¯ theologians, that may be useful in questions of this kind: "The professional person is obliged to keep the client's secre~ as long as the client retains the right to his secret.''8 In using this guiding principle, the crucial question one has to raise whenever a doubt arises is: Has the client 'the right to keep this matter secret? If the client retains that right, then the professional person must keep the secret. However, if the client for one reason or another has for-feited his or her right to secrecy, then the professional person is not bound to secrecy "and normally must take advantage of the free-dom and reveal the secr,et.''9 According to Regan, the causes that will permit or necessitate the revelation of another's secret, includ- Review for Religious ing professional secrets, are generally reducible to three categories: the consent of the client, publication of the fact or knowledge of it from another source, and the necessity of preventing harm from befalling either the community or individuals2° In this essay, what interests us is the last category: What kinds of harm to the com-munity or individuals is it necessary to try to prevent? Regan lists four main ones: .the necessity of preventing harm from befalling the community; the necessity of preventing harm from befalling clients themselves; the necessity of preventing harm from befalling an innocent third party; and the neces-sity of preventing harm from befalling oneself (the professional person). Of these four cases, what is rel-evant directly to us in this essay is the fourth case, namely, preventing harm from befalling oneself---in our case, the religious superior himself or herself. Sissela Bok seems to agree with Regan's first thre~ cases listed above. For her, harm to clients themselves, harm to other specific individuals, and harm to unknown persons or groups of persons in society are the three main limits to the obligation of keeping professional secrecy.11 She says: The premises supporting confidentiality are strong, but they cannot support practices of secrecy--whether by individual clients, institutions, or professionals themselves--that under-mine and contradict the very respec.t for persons and for human bonds that confidentiality was meant to protect.12 It is clear that keeping a professional secret is obligatory almost always. This obligation, however, has limits. In other words, while there is a strict obligation to guard the confidentiality of clients, there are circumstances in which professional secrets may be revealed. Surely one such circumstance is the case .where the pro-fessionals (religious superiors) are unjustly victimized by their clients (members of their religious congregations). Within church life there are many areas in which confiden-tiality is called for. However, except in the case of the confessional seal, church discipline does not seem to have indicated the impor- Are there circumstances that permit or even necessitate the revelation of a professional secret ? May-ffune 2001 Tirimanna ¯ Confidentiality tance of confidentiality by enunciating specific norms with clear-cut sanctions. In the case of the pontifical secret, for example, when people are consulted in connection with choosing a bishop, in the case of counselingi and in this essay's case about religious superiors, it is not sufficient merely to declare the Feed for con-fidentiality. Today it has become important to enunciate what such confidentiality means and why it is necessary, what its norms are, and what its sanctions and limits are. Or else, as we saw in this essay, some parties (in our case, the religious superiors) can unjustly become victims of this very much needed confidentiality. That the religious superiors are morally bound to respect confidential-ity with regard the members of their congregations is beyond dis-pute. The question I have highlighted is this: Do religious superiors have to maintain professional confidentiality absolutely, or are there circumstances when they have the moral "duty not to adhere to such confidentiality, particularly when it damages their good name? To me it seems there are occasions when they are not bound and that such occasions need to be recognized officially by the church in the form of clearly stipulated norms with appropri-ate. sanctions and limits attached to them. Such norms would surely enhance the common good of a given religious congregation whereas their continued absence is likely not only to cripple or paralyze religious superiors or animators, but also to negatively affect the work and welfare of the congregation as a whole. Notes ~ See Shaun McCarty ST, "Confidentiality Issues in Spiritual Direction," Review for Religious 56, no. 4 (July-August 1997): 370. 2 Sissela Bok, Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), p. 119. 3 Bok, Secrets, p. 156. 4 Robert E. Regan OSA, Professional Secrecy in the Light of Moral Principles: With an Application to Several Important Professions (Washington, D.C.: Augustinian Press, 1943), p. 47. s See Bok, Secrets, pp. 116, 122. 6 This example is taken from Alan Donagan, "Confidentiality in the Adversary System," in Ethical Issues in Professional Life, ed. Joan C. Callahan (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 253. 7 Leroy Waiters, '.'Confidentiality," in A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics, ed. James E Childress and John Macquarrie (London: SMC Press), 1986), p. 112. 8 Regan, Professional Secrecy, p. 9~. Review for Religious 9' Regan, Professional Secrecy, pp. 97-98. 10 Regan, Professional Secrecy, p. 101. 1~ See Bok, Secrecy, pp. 124-131. ~2 Bok, Secrecy, p. 135. See also Karl H. Peshke, Christian Ethics: Moral Theology in the Light of Vatican H, rev. ed., Vol. 2 (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 1992), pp. 379-380. Acceptance I know you well, my sins. Like an outworn glove creased and molded to my hand I know you. Fiber-woven we have grown together through the years, and I have come to know your intertwining even in the warp and woof of each shuttled day until you and I are indefinable. I know you wall, my friends, ¯ though not always was it so; and even now I do not wish too much accommodation. But life together holds some gratitude (albeit given grudgingly). Without you being who you are I would not be who I am. Marie LeClerc Laux SSND May-.~une 2001 LINDA HERNDON The Computer's Edge: Some Social and Ethical Concerns ComunmitpiUest etorsd ahya.v Ce obmecpoumteer sa amrea iunssetady t oin w mriotes tl erettleigrsio, utos kceoemp-track of community finances, to hold databases of information about community members and benefactors, to order library mate-rials, and to do some community business. The World Wide Web and email correspondence provide many helpful connections. Many religious have been involved in discussions about which type of computers to buy, what word-processing software to use, whether community members should all have the same type of computer and software, and other similar issues. Beyond these computer applications and issues, there are other computer matters that matter too, and our religious communities may be less alert to them. I suggest that, to begin with, we should be' talking seriously about some social and ethical issues in the computer world, such as equity of access, gender issues, privacy concerns, and the ways computer use can affect our relationships with others. On these issues I will make some remarks, raise some questions, and propose some possible practical responses, in the hope that religious communities will start similar discussions on these and other questions and find answers pertinent to their own situation. Although computers become less expensive with each passing year, they are not cheap. At present, in the first world, computers Linda Herndon OSB, of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas, writes from 409 N. Eau Claire Avenue, #I 10; Madison, Wisconsin 53705. Review for Religious are not necessities in the same way that telephones and cars are, but those of us who use computers regularly would find our work and our communication more difficult without them. Having com- ' puters available in our communities sets us apart from the poor. A recent study by the Fleet Boston Financial Foundation reports that in five northeastern cities fewer than half of the respondents with incomes under $40,000 a year have computers in their homes, and only 32 percent are connected to the Internet.t In 1999 a front-page article in USA Today said, "The Internet revolution is largely bypassing the poor, minorities, and those who live in rural communities and inner cities.''2 The article went on to say that Internet access was becoming both an economic and a civil-rights issue. More and more studies and articles report this. As regards the elderly, the article .said that only "15 percent of peo-ple 55 and over are on line." Although this number has surely increased by now, there is still reason for concern about older people's lack of computer knowledge and access, for with time more and more information is available only on line and not in traditional print formats. Lack of equal access to computers and the Internet, often referred to as the "Digital Divide," poses difficult questions with no simple answers, Are we in religious communities even aware that this situation exists and is a problem? How can we justify set-ting ourselves apart from significant portions of society by our possession and use of computer technology? Do we allow our employees Use of community computers? If we do, do we provide the training they need to use this often intimidating technology? Do we provide adequate computing facilities, including Internet access, for the schools and institutions that we sponsor? There are things we can do to alleviate this access problem. We can donate our older, but usable, comp~lters to community-action organizations that concern themselves with people who do not ordinarily have access to this technology. We can encourage businesses to do likewise. The Washington Post explored such possibilities in a 21 December 2000 article, "Who wants your old computer?" 3 Another way our rel!gious communities can assist organiza-tions that are working to overcome this problem of computer inac-cessibility is by sharing with them our skills in grant writing. We can become more informed about the inequity of access to both computers and the Internet, and we can stir others to address this May-June 2001 Herndon ¯ The Computer'sEdge major social and educational concern. Each .community needs to look at its charism, community resources, and ministries to decide how to address the "Digital Divide." Along with such physical access to computers and the Internet, is our community's Website accessible to all?4 Although court cases have determined that Websites do not need to meet the guide-lines set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act,s it seems that, in ~he interest of hospitality, we will want our community Websit~ to be accessible to all who try to visit.6 Is our.Website accessible to the blind or to those who are limited to a text-only browser? Websites with the latest "bells and whistles," such as Javascript, multiple frames, sound, and even animation, may make a site inaccessible to those who are running older browsers, are visually impaired, or are accessing the site over a slow modem. As communities of women and men religious, we need to explore the type of image we wish to portray to those who visit us in cyberspace. These decisions will need to be conveyed to those who design and maintain our community Websites. Such deci-sions, if they include not having the latest innovations, may not be understood by our Website creator and may provide occasion for ongoing dialogue with and education of the Web-page designer, community decision makers, and the community as a whole. A study conducted by the American Association of University Women released in October 1998 showed that "technology is now the new 'boys' club' in our nation's public schools.''7 Their 2000 report, "Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age," found similar results.8 The current computer climate does not tend to attract girls. Girls dislike the violence present in many computer games and are looking for "high-skill, not high-kill." The entry position of girls into computi.ng is often the 2001 equiv-alent of typing and word processing. These observations, coupled with the steady decline 6f the number of women going into com-puter science and related areas for the past fifteen years, are cause for great concern. The potential contribution that women have to offer in the area of technology will be lost as long as these trends continue. The "gender gap" in technology use raises several questions for us to consider, especially those of us who are members of com-munities of women religious. Do we encourage members to con-sider technology as an important and significant area of study? Do we encourage the girls and women with whom we have con- Review for Religious tact to study computer science and other areas of technology? Do we offer women any training programs in computer skills? Do we sponsor for girls special classes or workshops in technology? These are a few ways that we can help society benefit from the gifts and skills of women in the area of technology. Is it possible for those of us with extra buildings and superfluous space to use some space for computer learning labs specially designed for girls and women? Do we help and support those who are look-ing for foundation, funds for projects that empower girls and women in the use and study of technology? In an attempt to reverse these trends, Anita Borg recently created the Institute for Women and Technology9 as a way to "increase the impact of women on technologyand to increase the positive impact of technology on the world's women.''1° Another group, Women in Technology International, seeks to empower women through technology.~1 If even a small fraction of our religious commu-nities would help support these or similar ini-tiatives where we are--elementary schools, secondary schools, universities, wherever--what a difference we could make for young girls and women. We can encourage and lobby manufacturers of computer games .to explore other, less-violent options. What a great gift this would be to today's youth and to future generations! Lack of privacy is becoming a major concern in our society. Databases containing social-security numbers, driver's license data, health information, banking and credit information, residence and real-estate information, political-party affiliation, and more are available to all kinds of individuals, agencies, and businesses what-ever their purpose. As making purchases on' the Internet by credit card becomes common practice, the need for secure channels grows. Not all transmission of sensitive and personal information is secure; and this poses significant danger to privacy. And there is the question of the privacy of email. Email is not protected by the laws that protect the privacy of mail delivered by the United States Postal Service. Some companies and busi-nesses regularly, and legally, screen the email of their employees. Email is not secure and can be viewed at any of the computers through which it passes' on the way to its destination. At every We can encourage and lobby manufacturers of computer games to explore other, less-violent options. Herndon ¯ The Computer's Edge. "stop" along its path, a copy of the email is.downloaded before it is sent on its way. Since backuPs of these intermediate computers are made regularly, copies of our email are stored for some days, weeks, or even months. Most people are not even aware that copies of their email exist at various unknovcn computer locations. Unauthorized access by others to an individual's email is not likely to occur, but the possibilities do exist. There are many complex questions in the area of privacy. Are we aware of the problem of the lack of privacy that massive databases and the Internet present? Are we aware of what we can do to increase our own and others' personal privacy? Are we advo-cates for email privacy, .especially in the workplace? Do we educate ourselves and our community members about privacy and security concerns in the use of the Internet? Often new users of the Internet, especially older people, are not aware of the need for precaution. We can encourage our com-munity members not to give out unnecessary information about themselves, whether on the Internet, on questionnaires, or over the telephone. The more we can keep the various pieces of informa-tion about ourselves (such as name, address, phone number, social-security number) private, the harder it is for those using multiple databases to put together ~11 the pieces for a "picture" of us. Social-security numbers are probably the single best source of information about people.2 For convenience, many agencies and institutions use s0cial-security numbers for identification num-bers. Unless required by law (as in some financial matters), no one can require that your social-security number be used for your identification number. In Kansas, where I reside, people getting a driver's license may be asked for their social-security number for use on the driver's license, but they can request another number and it will be given. I suggest that, as women and men religious, we speak out against using social-security numbers for identifica-tion. Often people's phone number, date of birth, and so forth are routinely requested on warranty applications and the like. This information is usually not necessary and need not be given out to "strangers" for a database somewhere. After educating ourselves and our community members about these privacy matters, we will be better able to educate others as well. Does our use of the computer and the Internet affect the way we relate to others within and outside our religious community? A recent study found that "the nation's obsession with the Internet Review for Religious is causing many Americans to spend less time with friends and family" and that, the more time people spend on the Internet, the less time they will spend with real human beings.13 If members of religious communities are typical of the people studied, what ai-e the implications of flaese findings for us? There is no doubt that the Internet and email can be used to keep the membership informed and in touch with leadership and its decisions and also with others in the community. But do Internet browsing~ chat rooms, and email take members away from community time and from relating with others with whom they live? Is it safer to relate to another community member at a distance, even someone we have never met face to face, than to relate to our sisters or brothers close by? A related concern is addiction to computers. Compulsive behavior can be exhibited in game-playing, chat rooms, and surfing the Web. Do these things take religious away from their min-istry and their relating with others in normal ways? If so, there is a problem that needs to be dealt with. Seeking pornographic sites would, of course, be a problem in itself. There may be no way to legislate computer use, but religious communities can take some steps to prevent or alleviate various problems. If communal living is a priority, perhaps members should not ha~e "their own" computers. Of course, computers are pro-vided in offices, and also for ministries as needed or desirable, but these probably should not be in private rooms. Communities can have a "general access" computer or computers. Simply having them out in the open could help towards moderate use and a gen-eral sense of community. No doubt computers are here to stay. I have suggested look-ing at a number of social and ethical issues concerning computer use that'go beyond what computers to buy and which software programs are best. I believe that we women and men religious have something significant to offer in the area of computing tech-nology. It seems natural for us to become a voice regarding the social and ethical issues that computers and the Internet raise24 It will take time, much discussion, and a serious search to find answers for ourselves and our religious communities. If we com-mit ourselves to go beyond the obvious, we can bring about a Compulsive behavior can be exhibited in game-playing, chat rooms, and surfing the Web. May-June 2001 Herndon * Tbe Computer's Edge more humane and heal.thy world of computing for ourselves, our religious communities, and the wider world that our lives touch. Since these issues are multifaceted and I have just begun to scratch the surface of them, I have created a Website with links to online resources at: http://www.mountosb.org/social-issues.html. This Website contains links to issues that I have not addressed in this article. Among them are those related to health concerns (including repetitive-stress syndrome) and to environmental con-cerns (called "green computing"). These resources provide fur-ther educational information and can help you and your community develop your own way of handling various issues. This Web page will be updated with new information and links as they become known. I invite you to contribute to making this page a useful resource for all communities of women and men religious as they continue to face or raise issues of social and ethical concern in and around the world of computers. Notes ~ The report is summarized in "News, Resources, and Trends: An Online Newsletter from Syllabus Press," a listserv email of 17 January 2001. 2 D. Lieberman, "Internet gap widening. Study: Revolution bypass-ing poor, minorities," USA Today (9-I 1 July 1999), p. 1. 3 Available at: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37762 -2000Dec21 .html 4 "Towards Equal Web Access for All," by Jim Isaak (14 January 2001): http://www.computer.org/itpro/Nov_Dec.htm s "Does the ADA Apply to the Web?" by Michael Mason (25 September 2000): http://www.wtonline.com/vol 15_nol 3/federal/1815 - 1 .html 6 For complete guidelines see the Website for the Web Accessibility Initiative: http://www.w3.org/WAI 7j. Kornblum (14 October 1998), "Study: Tech gender gap widening," CNET News.Corn, available at: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,27550,O0 .html?st.ne.ni.lh 8 "Why Girls Don't Compute," by Kendra Mayfield, Wired News (29 December 2000): http://www.wirEd.com/news/culture/0,1284, 35654,00.html 9 For more information see the Women in Technology home page at: http://www.iwt.org ~0 A. Borg (March 1999). "Expanding the Pipeline: Models for Innovation Bring Women to the Table." Computing Research News, p. 2. ~ The home page for Women in Technology International is: http://www.witi.com/index-c.shtml Review for Religious ¯ ,2 This site; "Some Freqtiently Asked Questions on SSNs," maintained by Computer Scientists for Social Responsibility, is an excellent source of more information: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/ssn.faq.html ,3 "Study indicates Internet use changes social patterns," by John Markoff (16 February 2000): http://wwwlkcstar.com/item/pages/home.pat,local /37743 d 15.216,.html 14 One order's attempt to deal with these questions is the report of the Benedictine Internet Commission, a group of Benedictine women and men from around the United States. Their final report, issued on 15 January 1998, is available at: http://www.osb.org/bic/report.html Only to This Don't try to look as though you had no problems. Who doesn't ? Don't try to act as though you had it all together. Who does ? Don't think that you cannot be defeated. You can be crushed. Only to this must you witness. That in your problems God is there. That in falling apart you are held together. That in being crushed you are already being raised up again. As the crushed grape yields fine wine, and the crushed olive yields rich oil, so does your body yield, and does its yield give life. Paul N. Duckro May-June 2001 ROBERT P. MALONEY Authenticity and Contact with Youth religious life I love this little verse from Isaiah:"Each morning he wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple. The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear" (50:4-5). God is always try-ing to communicate with us. The Scriptures' powerful words and life's dramatic events seek contnually to rouse us from our distractedness, but often, as Isaiah laments, "hearing we do not hear." The whole New Testament, very mindful of Isaiah's words, is a trumpet call to conversion. The good news begins with a herald's cry in the desert: "Change your way of life. Prepare the way of the Lord." And when John the Baptist presents Jesus as the central figure on the New Testament stage, Jesus' message is simple and clear: "This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the good news!" (Mk 1:15). Religioiis, first in their baptism and later in their vocational option, commit themselves to the conversion process of which the gospels speak. But this call to be a new creation is continual. It comes at every stage in our development. It says: Change your way of life now. As Karl Rahner once wrote, "none of us can enter the king- Robert P. Maloney CM, superior gene~,al of the Congre-gation of the Mission, writes again from Via dei Capasso, 30; 00164 Roma, Italy. Review for Religious dom of God as we are." To narrow down this broad topic drasti-cally, I describe in this article one way of constant conversion, that proposed by Vincent de Paul. I analyze it briefly in terms derived from Be/nard Lonergan and then draw a few practical conclusions. Hunger for Truth as Constant Conversion Vincent de Paul wrote to his friend Franqois du Coudray on 6 November 1634: "Simplicity is the virtue I love most" (SV I, 284).1 Almost twenty years later he said to the Daughters of Charity, "I call it my gospel" (SV Ix, 606). Just a year before he died, he told the members of the Congregation of the Mission that everyone loves those who are authentic, whose words match what is in their hearts and whose actions match their words (SV XII, 171). Vincent proposed this "way" to the many groups he founded. It is clearly the virtue he loved most. Today we give simplicity many names: genuineness, sincerity, transparency, integrity, authenticity, hunger or thirst or passion for the truth. I suggest that simplicity is a path of continual con-version. This conversion manifests itself in: ¯ listening for the truth, searching for it humbly as a wayfarer rather than thinking to possess it as an owner; ° speaking the truth (a difficult disci-pline, especially when one's own convenience is at stake or when the truth is embarrassing); ¯ witnessing to the truth, or the personal authenticity whereby one's life matches one's words; ¯ practicing the truth through works of justice and charity; ¯ striving for sin-gle- minded truth, or purity of ihtention; ° living truthfully as a servant of the poor, having modest possessions and sharing what one has; ° expressing the truth clearly, using attractive, transpar-ent language, especially in teaching or preaching. The Asceticism of Authenticity Simplicity or authenticity is impossible without asceticism. The path of simplicity requires a long-sustained exercis~ of atten-tiveness, understanding, reasonableness, and responsibility. Authenticity, in other words, rests on a positive response to what Bernard Lonergan calls "four transcendental precepts": (I) be attentive, (2) seek to understand, (3) be reasonable, (4) be respon-sible. Attentive people observe precisely what is going on. Understanding people search out the meaning of what they see May-June 2001 Malone2/ ¯ Authenticity and Contact with Youth Drifting is the contemporary form of lukewarmness, of being "neither cold nor hot." and hear. Reasonable people formulate possible changes for the better. And responsible people weigh in the balance their short-and long-term advantages and disadvantages, and then choose. On the path that lies between inauthenticity and authentic-ity, there are two great dangers. The first danger to authenticity is bias. All of us have individual biases. They are self-deceptions that we create to protect ourselves or make us feel ¯ more secure. Others often see them in us much more quickly than we do: prejudices, labeling of others as liberals or conservatives, comfortable but unexamined choices, unchangeable patterns of behavior. One of the commonest individual biases I know in com-munity life is intolerance of differing pastoral approaches. Group bias is more subtle. We do not eas-ily identify it, because we share it with those around us. But it is very dangerous. It gives rise to unjust laws, persecutions, wars, abuse of others because of their race, sex, ethnic ori-gin, or religion. In clerical circles there still are strong group prejudices against women. These are especially striking in many European countries, in Africa, and in Asia, but they are found almost everywhere. Common bias is the most difficult of all to discern. It exists not just in individuals and particular groups; just about everyone suf-fers from it. It comes from looking at life in ways that no one reflects about and almost no one perceives as quite unacceptable. For centuries most people, Chris6ans included, regarded slavery as licit. Most of us live and die with common biases, without ever recognizing them. Prophetic voices attempt from time to time to shock us out of them. I am sorry that I cannot point out today's common biases, because, being afflicted with thgm, I am blind to them myself. But I am sure that someday people will shake their heads about us and our blithe assumptions, and ask, "How could they have thought that?" Whht are my biases? The second great danger is drifting. People who have entered the vowed life seldom deliberately choose to be inauthentic. In the contemporary world the great danger is that they might not deliberately choose anything at all. Drifting is the contemporary Review for Religious form of lukewarmness, of being "neither cold nor hot" (Rv 3:15). Drifters find themselves .incapable of moving resolutely toward authenticity. They skip across surfaces, never listening attentively, not searching out life's meaning, unalert for the right path or unwilling to choose it firmly. Do I drift? Levels of Conversion The quest for authenticity and the overcoming of our biases involves conversion on three levels. 1. Intellectual conversion. Staying aliveintellectually is crucial. I am not referring here to abstract, theoretical, high-flying intel-lectual voyages. No, I mean that we nourish our minds; that we read and reflect critically; that, when we ponder the word of God, we apply the four transcendental principles. Be attentive: hear what it is saying. Search out its meaning: understand it in the light of good commentators. Be reasonable: formulate what it may be asking of us. Be responsible: decide and act on the word. The focus of intellectual conversion is the true. 2. Moral conversion. The key to moral conversion is a change in the criterion for our choices, from personal satisfaction to val-ues. It is crucial in life that we decide what our key values are-- something drifters never do--and that we make them the basis of our judgments. The focus of moral conversion is the good. 3. Religious conversion. In religious conversion we are grasped by an ultimate concern. We surrender ourselves to God. Genuine religious conversion is pure grace. It is,not that we grasp God; God grasps us. The focus of i-eligious conversion is the holy. In each of these stages, we make choices and tfltimately our choices make us. We become what we choose. When we choose the true, we become true. When we choose the good, we become good. When we choose to allow the holy to possess us, we become holy. Am I in the process of being intellectually, morally, and reli-giously converted? Toward Being a New Creation Sixty-four percent of the world's population is under twenty-five years of age. These young people are the hope of the future. They are the future. Authenticity is immensely attractive to them. 2Ylay-June 2001 ¯ " Maloney ¯ Authenticity and Contact with Youth They yearn for the truth, hungering for it and rejecting what they consider its bogus forms. Let me suggest some specific ways in Which religious as indi-viduals and as communities can become more authentic. I am convinced that these will be of immense help in our efforts to reach out to the young. These are my dreams for all of us: ¯ My dream: that we become families that pray mightily and beautifully. I start with an aspe.ct of religious conversion. Do people say of our communities, "They really know how to pray"? People surely know many religious communities for their works. When posing this question to the Vincentian family, I put it this way: "The name Vincent de Paul is synonymous with works of practical charity. But do people also see us as a group that is deeply committed to prayer? Do the young people who come among us feel attracted by experiencing how we pray? Vincent himself was an extraordinary pray-er. His contemporaries readily recognized him as a contem-plative in action. He placed great emphasis on mentai prayer, on attuning ourselves to the rhythm of the church's liturgical life, and on celebrating it beautifully." My hope is that religious can support one another in medi-tating daily and fruitfully and that their common liturgical prayer will be "something beautiful for God" and attractive to the young. Do young people feel at home praying with us? Does our prayer ring true to them? ¯ My dream: that we create formation programs for the young. I hope that we can be masters and guides in the spiritual jour-ney. It is most important that we ourselves be rooted authenti-cally and experientially in the mystery of God's love if we wish to help young people share deeply in that same mystery. The mis-sion of the church is, after all, to announce this mystery joyfully. Formation is crucial for helping young people know and feel the good news that God is alive, that he lives within us, that he wbrks among us, and that he has a special love for the poor. Good formation demands hard work, creativity, the preparation of attrac-tive materials, and the dissemination of these materials far and wide to thousands and millions of young people who hunger for the truth. In the schools, parishes, and social centers where many reli-gious serve, have we created effective formation programs for Re~iew for Religqous young people? Have we developed a pedagogy of the experience of God? Can we communicate to the young our passion for truth and accompany them in their longing to be true? ¯ My dream: that we form youth groups and offer young people the opportunity to join in the service of the poor. ¯ Is there any sector of society that Pope John Paul II has focused on more clearly than youth? Today everyone talks about the new millennium. Young people are the third millennium. It belongs to them. If the Church is to be fully alive in this millennium, it will be because it is energized by young people who believe deeply. The young are the future evangelizers of the world and servants of the poor. Most religious active today will scarcely cross the threshold of the third millennium. If statistics hold true, I will not survive its sec-ond decade. But today's young people will be alive and full of energy long after that. And so I suggest that there is no apostolic goal more important for the church today than to reach. out to young people and offer them a strong Christian formation. We have a wonderful gift to offer them. We must bring it to them joyfully and generously. The presence of two million young peo-ple at World Youth Day in Rome last August was striking. Are we actively engaged in form-ing youth groups? Is the truth of our religious charism so important to us that we are eager to share it with them? ¯ My dream: that we offer the young the opportunity to serve in other countries. We live in the global community. Today events everywhere in the world affect us quickly. If the yen is weak, the New York stock market dives. If there is violent trouble in Central America, the number of undocumented people in Los Angeles increases. I urge religious to help young people to see the .plight of the poor throughout the world. Almost four centuries ago, when it was alto-gether common for young and old to die within five miles of their birthplace, Vincent de Paul established lay groups and two inter-national communities of priests, brothers, and sisters that spread quickly from France to Poland, Italy, Alge.ria, Madagascar, Ireland, Scotland, the Hebrides, and the Orkneys. There is no apostolic goal more important for the church today than to reach out to young people and offer them a strong Christian formation. May-June 2001 Maloney * Authenticity and Contact with Youth Do we offer young people the opportunity for commitments of two, three, four, five years in foreign missions? Do we encour-age them to be true to their inner desires in palpable ways, to be free to extend themselves, to take risks, to make temporary com-mitments and even permanent ones? Does the truth of our mis-sionary vocation so burn in our hearts that it carries over to others, brightening, w.arming, building a fire in them as well? In the mid 19th century, Henry David Thoreau went off into the woods and lived fo~: two yea~s more or less as a hermit a~ Walden Pond. It was a time of conversion for him, an intense period in which he sought meaning in his life. One day last sum-mer I visited Walden Pond, walked around its perimeter, and took a swim. In the evening I picked up Thoreau's famous book and read the words that he wrote when he returned to society after two years of searching: I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a suc-cess unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass aia invisible boundary; . . . and he will live with the liberty of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. How can we help young people dream dreams of the king-dom of God and build the foundations that will make those dreams come true? How can we communicate to greater numbers Of them a passion for the truth, a passion for the person of Jesus, a pas-sion for justice, a passion for the poor? Passion in its root sense includes suffering--can we help young people to be willing even to suffer for the truth they believe in? Note 1 SV refers to the fourteen-volume French edition of St. Vincent de Paul's works, edited by Pierre Coste (Paris: Gabalda, 1920-1925). Review for Religious KATHY DUNNE Obedience: Vow and Virtue in Our Contemporary World Ibt was a breezy, hot summer day in 1958. I was sitting on the ack steps of our suburban Long Island home with my friend Linda. We were both about six or seven years old. My morn had just made cupcakes, but told us we could not have any until after ¯ dinner that evening. Linda and I were discussing the merits of "snitching" a cupcake when my mom was not looking. I held that it would be stealing because they did not belong to us. Since this would be a mortal sin in our° theological framework, I did not think this was such a good idea. I did not want to die that night and go to hell! Linda, more practical-minded, said she thought it would only be a sin of disobedience since my mom said we could not have one until later. That would only be a venial sin! Since my mom stayed in the kitchen, we did not have a chance to take the cupcake. As I reflect on that event, I see that our notion of obedience was rudimentary. We lacked maturity, of. course, and our moral framework was that of young children. After many years of growth in discipleship and in my religious vocation, I found myself with a deeper understanding of the vow of obedience. Obedience means more than acquiescing to external authority; it is a more mature, discerning stance that includes inner authority within the context of community, the church, and the world. Kathy Dunne RC is a spiritual director and works with her commu-nity's affiliates. She wrote "The Still Point" for our issue of January- February 1999. Her address is Cenacle Retreat House; P.O. Box 8115; Metairie, Louisiafia 70011. May-June 2001 Dunne ¯ Obedience: Vow and Virtue This article looks at obedience as an evangelical counsel, lived as vow andvirtue. It approaches obedience from three perspec-tives: the scriptural, especially as seen in Jesus' relationship with the One he called Abba; that of religious life today; and that of con-temporary spirituality, that is, living the Spirit of the Gospels in one's life. Obedience, which comes from the Latin audire, means to lis-ten or to hear. In The New Catholic Dictionary of Spirituality, obe-dience is defined as "receiv!ng and responding appropriately to a message--or Word--from God.''l Jesus Christ, in his fidelity to his Abba (his Father), is the model par excellence of this obedience. Jesus lived in a deep relationship with his Father, modeling for us what intimacy means. Jesus' life of deep prayer, listening, and response to his Abba lies at the heart of obedience. The Scriptures tell us that by his obedience Christ was able to "reconcile all things to himself." In a world fractured by sin and division, Jesus shows us how to be at one with God, with each other, and with the whole cosmos. We are called to obedience in the deepest recesses of our being. We are invited back to primal unity and original innocence. By reconciling all things and all people in Christ Jesus, God invites us back to what life was like before original sin. This original unity models love, inclusivity, respect, reverence, mutuality, and care of the ea~'th and all living things. It is nonabusive and "does not rejoice in the wrong but rejoices in the truth" (1 Co 13:6); there "is ntither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free person, male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus" (Ga 3:28). Original Sin Original sin, the sin of fundamental disobedience, echoes Lucifer's "I will not serve." It prevents us from accepting and liv-ing the truth of who we are given to be. It blinds us from seeing with the eyes of Christ. Unable to see clearly, we live in a fog or mist of confusion, contradiction, and rationalization. We are often unaware of the needs of those around us. We justify our thoughts, attitudes, and behavior in the name of expediency. We participate, often without realizing it, in the escalating violence and destruc-tion that affect all persons and all creation. We do this by our presence and by our silence. This happens in personal and in struc-tural acts of sin. By our acts of commission and omission, we are Review for Religious involved both in petty acts of selfishness and in the much larger realms of evil, including prejudice, racism, and sexism. We are called, as Christians and particularly as religious, to stand against this fundamental disobedience. We are called to be in harmony and in relationship with all of creation, with one another, and with Christ in God. Obedience is not easy, nor is it an escape from discerning what God asks of us each day. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "There is no cheap grace." Neither is there cheap obedience. Obedience does not give license to opt out of personal or communal responsibility. Rather, obedience is being in fundamental relationship with Jesus Christ as he was with his Father. For many of us that relationship is also mediated through the church and the profession of religious vows. But, primarily and before any type of mediated relationship, we are called to be disciples. Discipleship is the call to be learners, to stand before God with, in, and through Jesus Christ as persons who desire to do God's will and beg for the grace of actually doing it in all the circumstances of life. Obedience is being in fundamental relationship with Jesus Christ as he was with his Father. Seeking the Will of God There are various ways of seeing the will of God. Some see it to be preset or preplanned, a blueprint thatlone just has to dis-cover in order to be obedient. Others consider it as unfolding in the events of daily life. Some experience God's will as some com-bination of the two. Perhaps another way to see its essential nature is to look at Jesus and his relationship with the One he called Abba. John's Gospel in particular stresses this relationship: "I always do what pleases him"; "I have come not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me"; "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 6 and 14:10). Jesus' obedience hinges on this relationship with his Abba. It is not a driven or mechanical relationship. It is a matter of love and deep passion that God's dream for our world will come to fruition. This type of union flourished with Adam and Eve, as God walked in the garden with them in the cool of the evening. When Adam May-ffune 2001 Dunne ¯ Obedience: Vow and Virtue and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, their eyes were opened. They lost their primal innocence. The Evil One said they would become like gods. Instead, they lost their innocence and were removed from the gard.en (Gn 3:1-19). Jesus, in the words of the Easter Proclamation, "restores lost innocence." The innocence and candor of little children are often spoken of as a kind of na'ivet~. As we experience more of life, we lose that innocence and na~'vetd. Disillusion and disappointment contribute to this loss. As we grow in the spiritual life, studying and reflecting on experience, we may come to what Paul Ricoeur calls 'the second na~'vetd, a kind of innocence that is far from na~'ve. Jesus grew in "wisdom and age and grace"; he taught us by his living, his dying, and his rising what obedient living and loving are about. He models for us the innocence that can be restored in us by obe-dience, by being in relationship with God, from whom all things come and to whom all things return.2 Christ's obedience was part of his relationship of love with his Abba. Deep love of God includes deep interior freedom. Such freedom is not a license to follow our inclinations and impulses into unregulated attitudes and behaviors. Rather, such interior freedom seeks to discover what God is asking in each situation or event of our life. There is no plan that anticipates exactly what to do in any eventuality, but there are general guidelines. The teach-ing of the church, refined by centuries of gospel living and of seek-ing and finding what works best as circumstances change, provides a major guideline. The Scriptures provide another. Individual con-science, our culture, and the mores of our country and society also provide guidance. But none of these is enough by itself. The way God leads us within and sometimes beyond these guidelines must be discerned. Some people are ~alled to be prophets and to challenge the status quo. Some, called to be prophets of justice, challenge church " and society teachings on the roles of women, of minorities, of the poor and dispossessed of our world. Others are contemplatives and mystics, women and men who remind us that, without deep and sustained prayer born of a desire to respond to a loving.God, all our work is for nothing. All must listen to the "still small voice" (1 K 19:12) within in order to be obedient to the call which God gives each of us for building up the reign of God. Paul tells us that there is one Spirit but many gifts for the building up of the kingdom. Some are called to be teachers, some Review for Religious prophets, some administrators; some to speak in tongues and some to interpret the tongues (1 Co 12:4-10). Paul tells us that now we know in part and see in part, but then we shall see face to face. He tells us that all other gifts will disappear, that prophecies will be no more, but that faith, hope, and love remain and that the greatest of these is love (1 Co 13:8-13). Call to Love This call to love, to a growing union and familiarity with God and the things of God, is central to the vow and virtue of obedi-ence. Obedience does not mean going "against the grain" in a mechanical way. Rather, it is a delicate dance in which our choices--our ways of being, thinking, and doing--are gradually transformed. We are gentled, so to speak, discovering the strength that comes from God and not from self. Disciples move from exte-rior conformity to inner listening, listening for what Jesus, the Beloved, would have us do. The hours of prayer that we spend overflow into our life, and the events of our life also lead us to God. We become familiar with God's heart and desire God's mercy and justice for all people everywhere and always. Our heart expands to embrace all and thus grows in compassion. The vow can become virtue. Our growing interior freedom lets go of all that is not God, desiring only God and that which God desires. As disciples we let go of compulsions and addictions, sometimes with the help of support groups, ther-apy, spiritual direction, and study, but always with prayer. Over many years we let go of habits, even preferences for doing things a certain way. Fundamental desires are transformed. We now desire the truth and integrity of heart that come from the interior action of the Holy Spirit. We become obedient out of a growing desire to mirror God's trinitarian love in our life. How do we get to where God's nature becomes ours, where it is second nature for us to make decisions--and actually to live-- as God dreams for us? First, baptism gives us the basic operating system of the Christian life. Through years of praying and study-ing the Scriptures, we come to know Jesus Christ ever more deeply. The church's teaching in all areas, particularly justice and mercy, guides our learning and our praying. We grow in our willingness to be open to all of that teaching--and not just what is convenient or feels good. May-June 2001 Dunne ¯ Obedience: Vow and Virtue In addition, we learn as religious the Rule and constitutions of our particular institute. We move from the externals of the vow of obedience to an inner disposition. We begin to find our own way within the congregation and the church. Our particular talents and learned skills come to light and eventually to fruition. We ¯ learn to use these gifts generously and, when we can, to encourage others to grow in discipleship. Over time the vow gradually becomes virtue. No one can map this out for another in exact detail. What a guide can do is listen with us for the signs of how God is at work and suggest ways to cooperate more fully with God. As we let go of less-than-produc-tive ways of being and doing, we gradually find that, much as Jesus did, we grow in age, grace, and wisdom. Ingrained habits give way to the desires and habits of God. We come to desire love, the unity of all persons and all things in God. As disciples we find ourselves fulfilling our living and loving desires in the concrete actions of daily life~ We find that we must live the gospel radically if we are to be faithful. All that life asks must be integrated in an incarna-tional way with the demands and challenges of the gospel, or we live in vain. Living Obediently How do disciples live this challenge? We pray and we act. We act and we pray. There is really no other way. We do not live iso-lated on our own island. A survival-of-the-fittest mentality does not rule our life. Rather, we cooperate with each day's graces and meet each day's challenges. A living obedience to the demands made each day and a willingness to embrace all that life asks call us to greater fidelity. Just as Jesus' love and mission were not only for the Jewish people of 1 st-century Palestine,' the call to obedience is not limited to "my family, . my community," and "my country." As Jesus' mission was for all people and for all time, so obedience embraces all and thus becomes universal. We are called to be compa?sionate with all people who suf-fer, who are poor, excluded, and marginalized. This demands a range of vision impossible without profound grace. We are so con-ditioned to "get ours" or do things our own way that it takes the wide-angle lens of the gospel and of the church's social teaching, accompanied by much prayer and meditation on these documents, to move beyond our myopic viewpoint. We are called by obedience Review for Religious to embrace all and to include all, not just in an intellectual way but in our loving, our praying, and our acting. We have to think globally even as we act locally. The way we do this is unique to each of us and must be dis-cerned. But act we must, or our religion is in vain. But our activ-ity must not be a mere "clanging cymbal" (1 Co 13:1). We must be, like John the Baptist, "a voice crying in the wilderness" (Mt 3:3) or, like Paul, one who proclaims the gospel "in season and out of sea-son" (2 Tm 4:2). We will not be popular, and we may indeed be martyred--if not by stoning or crucifixion, at least by rejection and hurtful words. Nonetheless, we are called to be like Jesus Christ, who "was crucified for our sakes" (1 Co 15:3). If Jesus Christ suffered and died for what he believed and proclaimed, so shall we. We are like the one we Wofess to follow. Obedient love demands such life and response from us. We know that death is not the end of the story. Jesus was raised to new life. We too will rise, not only on the last day, but each time we die to ourselves and surrender ourselves to our good God. The Scriptures tell us that God will not be outdone in gen-erosity. A generous and obedient heart leads us deeper into God's own heart and calls us forth to minister and to love as Jesus did. As we continue .to die to ourselves each day, we are raised up. As we grow in the vow and virtue of obedience, we see our wdrld with God's eyes and with God's heart. But, because we are human beings and not God, we act accordingly. We make mis-takes. We learn, however, to forgive others and ourselves because God has first forgiven us. We forgive and are gentle because that is the very nature of love and the heart of obedience. Able to laugh at ourselves, we do not take ourselves too seriously. This is, after all, God's world and God's creation. The Potter asks only for our cooperation, that we let go of control. Like Jesus, we are in rela-tionship with our Abba/Amma, our Father/Mother God. We are in an interdependent relationship with God, sharing mutually the fruit of otir love and our labor:3 God is as dependent on us as we are on God in this relationship. As we grow in the ways of God, we become ever more fully ourselves. We rejoice because we are one with the God we love and with all whom God loves. Through the vow and the virtue, we are obedient in heart and spirit. We rejoice in the truth. We live simply and we live radically because we live with Christ, through him and for him who is before all else that is. We are his, and he May-June 2001 Dunne ¯ Obedience: Vow and Virtu~ is ours. We are in relationship and in love. We are obedient. Notes L Richard M. Fragomeni, "Obedience," The New Catholic Dktionary of Spirituality, ed. Michael Downey (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1993), p. 709. 2 See St: Boflaventure, "Contemplating the Divine Unity through Its Primary Name Which Is Being," in Bonaventure: The Soul's Journey into God, The Tree of Life, The Life of St. Francis, trans. Ewert Cousins, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1978), pp. 94-101. 3 See David Fleming SJ, Draw Me into Your Friendship: A Literal Translation and a Contemporary Reading of the Spiritual Exercises (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996), "Contemplation to Attain the Love of God," §§230-234. Suggested Readings Foley, John B., SJ. "Stepping into the River: Reflections on the Vows." Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits 26, no. 4 (September 1994). Langan, John P., sJ, "The Good of Obedience in a Culture of Autonomy," Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits 32, no. 1 (January 2000). Rolheiser, Ronald, OMI. Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality. New York: Doubleday, 1999. Schneiders, Sandra, IHM. New Wineskins: Re-imagining Religious Life Today. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1986. --. Finding the Treasure: Locating Catholic Religious Life in a New Ecclesial and Cultural Context. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2000. Wittberg, Patricia, SC. "Community and Obedience: Musings on Two Ambiguities." Review for Religious 59, no. 5 (September-October 2000): 526-536. NEW ON OUR WEBSITE Complete text of A Spirituality for ContemPorary Life: The Jesuit Heritage Today edited by David Fleming SJ and containing articles by J.J. Muetler s J, Walter Burghardt S J, David Fleming s J, Monika K. Hellwig, Jon Sobrino S J, Elizabeth Johnson CSJ, and John W. Padberg sJ ° ¯ An ARCHIVES section containing indices, abstracts, and summaries of our iournal articles from January-Februau 1995 to the current issue VISIT US AT: http://www.reviewforreligious.org Review for Religious WILLIAM C." ZEHRINGER Mechthild of Magdeburg's Spiritual Pilgrimage '~md where is this inaccessible light, or how can I approach the inaccessible light? Or who shall lead me and take me into it that I may see you in it?" So wrote St. Anselm in his Proslogion at the end of the 11th cen-tury. A lifelong searcher for that divine light was Mechthild of Magdeburg (ca. 1212-ca. 1282), one of the greatest women mystics of the Middle Ages. The ardu-ous and triumphantly successful spiritual pilgrimage of that remarkable woman is recorded in her enduring book, Das Fliessende Licht der Gottheit (The Flowing Light of the Godhead), the first mystical work to have been composed in the author's native language, and a book which "defies genre conventions.''~ So, it might be added, does her life in religion. Mechthild is unique among the female mystics of her time and place, both for the changes that took place in the form of her vocation throughout a long life and for the distances that she traveled before finding, at the last, her soul's rest. "My body," wrote Mechthild early in her Flowing Light, "is in great torment, my soul is in sublime bliss; for William C. Zehringer, a medievalist and free-lance author, received his doctorate from Temple University. His publi-cations include a college writing textbook; this article is adapted from a chapter of a book in progress. His address is 364 E. Second Street; Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania 17815. May-June 2001 heritages Zehringer * Mecbtbild's Spiritual Pilgrimage she has both gazed upon and embraced her Lover in her arms."2 These words summarize her turbulent life, for she long endured both ill health and afflictions from her adversaries, while also expe-rienci. ng deep consolations within her soul. As Emilie zum Brunn and Georgette Epiney-Burgard say, "The return of the soul to its original being in G6d--that is what motivates her desire."3 The revelations and sublime insights of The Flowing Light, which she worked on until the end of her life, won her, in her later years, a devoted following among the wisest of her contempo-raries. These included Meister Eckhart and the h01y nuns ofthe convent of Helfta.4.What.was the source of her appeal to these far-seeing men and women? Perhaps one may attribute it, and the hardy endurance of her single mystical.work through centuries of studied neglect, to the potent force of her convictions and the power of her expression in her'native language. Mechthild's book is remarkable in the way the clarity of her vision emerges from the diverse forms of expression she employs, from prayer to exhortation. Carol Lee Flinders has said, "The over-all coherence of the work derives not so much from formal qualities as from a consistency in preoccupation of the kind that knits together a collection of lyric poetry.''5 This all-consuming preoc-cupation is best told in her own impassioned words: "Then she soars further to a blissful place," and, "when infinite God brings the unfathomable soul to the heights, she loses sight of the earth in her astonishment and is not aware of ever having been on earth" (41).6 These and other startling paradoxes which the saint finds in her soul as she approaches the Sacred Presence are a proof of her lifelong (and ultimately successful) attempt to spiritualize her deep and abiding suffering. But they are also her wayof explaining the experiences which she took pains to have recorded, for the edifi-cation of her fellow Christians. The movifig story of her spiritual pilgrimage is above all a lesson in the way all searchers for.the Source of light and love must chart their courses. As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin so memorably wrote, "Union ir~creases only through an increase in consciousness, that is to say, in vision. And that, doubtless, is why the history of the living world can be sum-marized as the elaboration of ever more perfect eyes within a cos-mos in which there is always something more to be seen.''7 These words apply well to Mechthild's life. And a stirring picture of the price of such vision may be found in "The Lament of the Loving Soul" (Flowing Light, Book 2, ~hap. 25): "Oh, you infinite glory Review for Religious in the power of your nobility! How painfully I long for you when you want to spare me" (92). If one searched The Flowing Light for momentous earthly events, one would bE disappointed, but, read as a narrative of Mechthild's interior journey, the book describes vividly her cease-less hunger for heaven's heights,s It was often the depths of the human spirit that this sen-sitive soul traversed. Mechthild knew darkness and periods of dryness. Albert Camus, that pellu-cid and unresting agnostic searcher, has declared: ~"There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night.''9 But passages such as the one quoted above also bear witness to another cause of Mechthild's suf-fering: the unjust criticism that was hurled at her by clerical authori.ty when she denounced the vices that flourished in the church of her time. As Michael Novak wisely observed, "the experiences whence language about God springs--freedom, honesty, community, and courage--abut on pol-itics. They will not be contained.''1° In Mechthild's life they were not contained, any more than they were in the lives of Hildegard of Bingen, Birgitta of Sweden, or Catherine of Siena. Here is her heartfelt summary of her interior and exterior afflictions (Book 3, chap. 5, "How the Soul Laments that It Cannot Hear Mass or the Daily Offices"): "Ah,' dear One, how intimately you speak to me. And yet I never dare think upon these words in joy. For I constantly notice with anguish the stench of that dead mongrel, my body; and I, Lord, when I consider the matter, have no idea how things shall turn out for me in the end. What is more, just beholding you I lose all awareness of suffering" (112). The words that I have italicized are as characteristic of Mechthild's spiritual life as are the laments that precede them. How could they not be? For all true mystics believe that an essen-tial task of souls who ha(,e answered the call to holiness is to show a sorely burdened humankind how to avoid the paths that lead to One would gravely misrepresent Mechthild of Magdeburg by dwelling only on the slanting shadows of her thought and ignoring the record of the supernatural joys she experienced. May-June 2001 Zebringer ¯ Mecbtbild's Spiritual Pilgrimage despair.~1 And they most surely accomplish this by relating their own ascent past slippery edge,s,tz One would gravely misrepresent Mechthild of Magdeburg by dwelling only on the slanting shadows of her thought and ignoring the record of the supernatural joys she experienced. There is more light than darkness to be found in The Flowing Light of the Godhead. Mechthild's active compassion and love for the suffering poor as a beguine in Magdeburg is al~other aspect of her spiritual voca-tion. She carried the interior joys of her heart to a world that needed them as surely as ours does. Father Odo Egres called her an angel of mercy who "gave love and consolation to those who in their misery looked for a ray of hope."'3 Her life, then, was not given ?ver completely to serene med-itation on the divine mysteries. The practice of prophetic speech that led to charges of heresy and hard missiles of condemnation was one to which she felt compelled by God's command. In Book 4, chapter 24, she calls her fellow pilgrims to carry out the duties of their state of life so that they find at the end that "God crowns three kinds of people with his fatherly hands: virgins, widows, and married people" (168). Not surwisingly, than, does Caroline Walker Bynum find that "Mechthild of Magdeburg sees herself as a teacher, counselor,'and mediator." 14 But there is another dimension to that part of her life when she lived as a mystic in the world. Mechthild is also a fine poet of the spiritual life and of mystical marriage with her Lord. Bea.uty and pictorial splendor are characteristics of her later work. Lucy Menzies, a 1953 editor of Mechthild's book, says, "Thehuman passion of the younger years gradually gives place to the mature spiritual poise of the late period, when like an eagle 'she soars up to gaze into the face of God.'''is That is a valid judgment, for the knowledge that she was advancing toward her lifelong goal, union with Divine Love and Truth, came steadily to the saint as she con-tinued to labor and pray. Perhaps that is why there is a joining, in her earlier visions, of what seem at first to be opposed ideas (as in the words quoted above: "Dear One, how intimately you speak to me. And yet I never dare think upoh these'words in joy"). These most likely represent, at one and the same time, Mechthild's unsettled response to the overpowering presence of her Savior, her consciousness of sin,.and her aching desire for bliss. Peter Dronke speaks perceptively of"Mechthild's anguished evo-cations of the 'fatal' quality of her love. For all its torments, she Review for Religious cannot help her longing--it is her destiny to sing of love through pain, like the nightingale." 16 And yet, in some of the later por-tions of The Flowing Light, there are harmonious images that sup-port an assured and serene conclusion. In Book 5, chapter 22, "The Seven Things of Judgment," Mechthild proclaims that "the greatest delight in doing comes from keeping one's integrity in all that one does" (196). A beautiful and unique feature of her book is the intense response of the Lord to her plaintive pleas for a surcease from suffering. Divine speech (as in Book 2, chapter 25) is expressed in ¯ cumulative phrases that pierce the heart: Your secret sighs shall reach me. Your heart's anguish can compel me. Your sweet pursuit shall so exhaust me That I shall yearn to cool myself In your limpid soul, To which I have b