Comme l’indique le sous-titre, ce livre n’est pas une biographie, mais une enquête sur la disparition dans la mémoire collective d’une grande résistante, une des six femmes Compagnons de la Libération, Laure Diebold-Mutschler. Engagée dès 1940 dans la Résistance, à l’âge de vingt-cinq ans, elle est notamment agent de liaison du réseau Mithridate avant d’entrer à Lyon dans les Forces Françaises libres et de devenir la secrétaire de Jean Moulin. Elle sera arrêtée le 24 septembre 1943 à Paris, a...

The visual attention (VA) span is defined as the amount of distinct visual elements which can be processed in parallel in a multi-element array. Both recent empirical data and theoretical accounts suggest that a VA span deficit might contribute to developmental dyslexia, independently of a phonological disorder. In this study, this hypothesis was assessed in two large samples of French and British dyslexic children whose performance was compared to that of chronological-age matched control children. Results of the French study show (...) that the VA span capacities account for a substantial amount of unique variance in reading, as do phonological skills. The British study replicates this finding and further reveals that the contribution of the VA span to reading performance remains even after controlling IQ, verbal fluency, vocabulary and single letter identification skills, in addition to phoneme awareness. In both studies, most dyslexic children exhibit a selective phonological or VA span disorder. Overall, these findings support a multi-factorial view of developmental dyslexia. In many cases, developmental reading disorders do not seem to be due to phonological disorders. We propose that a VA span deficit is a likely alternative underlying cognitive deficit in dyslexia. (shrink)

There is a need for empirically based research on social and ethical challenges related to informed consent processes, particularly in studies focusing on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. In a pilot study of a school-based pregnancy prevention intervention in rural Zambia, the majority of the guardians who were asked to consent to their daughters’ participation, refused. In this paper we explore the reasons behind the low participation in the pilot with particular attention to challenges related to the community engagement and (...) informed consent process. The pilot was implemented in two schools and examined the acceptability of a package of interventions including economic support to families to keep their girls in school, pocket money for girls, youth club meetings on reproductive health, and community meetings to sensitize the community. Focus group discussions were conducted with girls who participated in the pilot, boys in their class and with parents. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers, peer educators and community health workers involved in the coordination of the intervention as well as with religious and traditional leaders. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings indicate that inadequate use of recognized community communication channels during the community engagement process and dissemination of information about the pilot resulted in limited understanding of the pilot concept by the community. This surfaced through uncertainty and fear that the intervention may result in loss of control over daughters, worries about why money was provided unconditionally to girls, and suspicion of links to satanism. The sense of insecurity appeared to be exacerbated by low literacy levels, poverty, fear of loss of bride wealth, perceived disregard for local perceptions of social status, and scanty trust in the actors implementing the pilot. Inadequate use of locally appropriate channels in the dissemination of information created room for interpretation and facilitated development of mistrust, undermining the conditions for community engagement and actual informed consent. A key lesson learnt is the importance of taking seriously the complexity of local values and structures that may impact people’s capability to consent or not consent to a study in an informed manner. (shrink)

Although clinical ethics consultation is a high-stakes endeavor with an increasing prominence in health care systems, progress in developing standards for quality is challenging. In this article, we describe the results of a pilot project utilizing portfolios as an evaluation tool. We found that this approach is feasible and resulted in a reasonably wide distribution of scores among the 23 submitted portfolios that we evaluated. We discuss limitations and implications of these results, and suggest that this is a significant step (...) on the pathway to an eventual certification process for clinical ethics consultants. (shrink)

La publication des lettres d’Isabelle de Bourbon-Parme à sa belle-sœur l’archiduchesse Marie-Christine est un événement important. Pas seulement parce que nous avons affaire à un écrit intime d’une « princesse philosophe », dont l’intelligence et l’ouverture d’esprit sont en soi dignes de notre intérêt. Mais parce qu’il s’agit de lettres d’amour à une femme, comme nous en avons peu d’exemples au xviiie siècle, et même après. Il se pourrait même que nous ayons affaire au premier écrit de cette...

Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was a ground-breaking work of literature which still resonates in feminism and human rights movements of today.

When the COVID-19 surge hit New York City hospitals, the Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College, and our affiliated ethics consultation services, faced waves of ethical issues sweeping forward with intensity and urgency. In this article, we describe our experience over an eight-week period (16 March through 10 May 2020), and describe three types of services: clinical ethics consultation (CEC); service practice communications/interventions (SPCI); and organizational ethics advisement (OEA). We tell this narrative through the prism of time, (...) describing the evolution of ethical issues and trends as the pandemic unfolded. We delineate three phases: anticipation and preparation, crisis management, and reflection and adjustment. The first phase focused predominantly on ways to address impending resource shortages and to plan for remote ethics consultation, and CECs focused on code status discussions with surrogates. The second phase was characterized by the dramatic convergence of a rapid increase in the number of critically ill patients, a growing scarcity of resources, and the reassignment/ redeployment of staff outside their specialty areas. The third phase was characterized by the recognition that while the worst of the crisis was waning, its medium- and long-term consequences continued to pose immense challenges. We note that there were times during the crisis that serving in the role of clinical ethics consultant created a sense of dis-ease as novel as the coronavirus itself. In retrospect we learned that our activities far exceeded the familiar terrain of clinical ethics consultation and extended into other spheres of organizational life in novel ways that were unanticipated before this pandemic. To that end, we defined and categorized a middle level of ethics consultation, which we have termed service practice communication intervention (SPCI). This is an underappreciated dimension of the work that ethics consult services are capable of in times of crisis. We believe that the pandemic has revealed the many enduring ways that ethics consultation services can more robustly contribute to the ethical life of their institutions moving forward. (shrink)

Le colloque organisé par Jérôme Bazin et Marie Frétigny à l’université de Picardie d’Amiens, avait-il besoin de se placer sous la bannière du « gender » pour analyser la question du réalisme dans la peinture du XXe siècle? Si l’hypothèse qui sous-tend cette journée – le réalisme est-il vecteur d’une autre image des femmes? – a pu être opérationnel pour le XIXe siècle, elle devient contre-productive pour le XXe. On ne sera pas surpris d’apprendre que le réalisme a renforcé (...) les stéréotypes de... (shrink)

Respect and dignity are central to moral life, and have a particular importance in health care settings such as the intensive care unit (ICU). We conducted 15 semistructured interviews with 21 participants during an ICU admission to explore the definition of, and specific behaviors that demonstrate, respect and dignity during treatment in the ICU. We transcribed interviews and conducted thematic qualitative analysis. Seven themes emerged that focused on what it means to be treated with respect and/or dignity: treated as a (...) person; Golden Rule; acknowledgement; treated as family/friend; treated as an individual; treated as important/valuable; and treated as equal. Participants described particular behaviors or actions that were considered related to demonstrating treatment with respect and dignity: listening; honesty/giving information; attention to body/modesty/appearance; caring/bedside manner; patient and family as an information source; attention to pain; and responsiveness. These behaviors provide a framework for improving experiences with care in the ICU. (shrink)

Balancing Change and Tradition in Global Education Reform is an invaluable resource for policymakers, faculty, students, and anyone interested in how decisions made about the education system ultimately affect the quality of education, educational access, and social justice.

Disons le tout de suite, le livre de l’historienne allemande Monika Siedentopf, Parachutées en terre ennemie, et le film Femmes de l’ombre, tiré de ses recherches n’ont pas grand-chose à voir ensemble. Autant le livre ouvre une nouvelle page de l’histoire de la participation des femmes à la Résistance contre l’occupant nazi, autant le film tire les ficelles d’un pseudo-héroïsme féminin qui conforte les mythes au détriment de la réalité historique. Ce qui est un comble quand on découvre la r...

La passionnante biographie de Vera Atkins réalisée par Sarah Helm à l’issue de nombreuses enquêtes en Europe, est un document précieux, qui jette une lumière nouvelle sur l’engagement des femmes dans les services secrets britanniques opérant en France durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Née en Roumanie en 1908, dans une famille juive aisée, Vera Rosenberg fuit le nazisme et émigra en Angleterre en 1938 avec sa mère, dont elle prit le nom d’Atkins. En 1941, elle entre comme secrétaire au SOE (...) (... (shrink)

À voir la détermination avec laquelle Berthe Morisot nous regarde, nous pourrions penser qu’elle a trouvé facilement sa place d’artiste. Une palette est esquissée sur la gauche de trois mouvements tournants. Elle porte une fleur bleue à la boutonnière, « comme une décoration », dira Mallarmé, elle se tient droite, la tête tournée vers le spectateur, et elle nous regarde de ses célèbres yeux noirs qui ont tant fasciné Manet. Paul Valéry écrira d’ailleurs au sujet de ses yeux : « (...) Berthe Mo... (shrink)

Guidelines advise that x-rays do not contribute to the clinical management of simple nasal fractures. However, in cases of simple nasal fracture secondary to assault, a facial x-ray may provide additional legal evidence should the victim wish to press charges, though there is no published guidance. We examine the ethical and medico-legal issues surrounding this controversial area.

Simone Weil was a defining figure of the twentieth century; a philosopher, Christian, resistance fighter, Labour activist and teacher, described by Albert Camus as 'the only great spirit of our time'. In 1941 Weil was introduced to Father Joseph-Marie Perrin, a Dominican priest whose friendship became a key influence on her life. When Weil asked Perrin for work as a farm hand he sent her to Gustave Thibon, a farmer and Christian philosopher. Weil stayed with the Thibon family, working (...) in the fields and writing the notebooks which became _Gravity and Grace _and other posthumous works. Perrin and Thibon met Weil at a time when her spiritual life and creative genius were at their height. During the short but deep period of their acquaintance with her, they came to know her as she actually was. First published in English in 1953, and now introduced by J.P. Little, this unique portrait depicts Weil through the eyes of her friends, not as a strange and unaccountable genius but as an ardent and human person in search of truth and knowledge. (shrink)