Year 2023 marked 120 years of the Lazarus Jewish Hospital in Lviv (Lwów/Lemberg). This richly illustrated book is a tribute to its place in the once-vibrant Jewish community of the city and in the society at large during the period 1903-1939. Visionaries from Lviv presents the hospital’s history and its fascinating architecture, its doctors, and its founder, a prominent local Jewish philanthropist Maurycy Lazarus, with the background of the Jewish life in Lviv. The volume also details the history of medicine and medical education in Habsburg Galicia prior to the hospital’s founding, Jewish access to the medical profession, and the impact of Jewish doctors on the path to modernity. It also shows the struggle of women to become doctors. A moving and timely book with contributions from leading historians, scholars, and medical professionals, Visionaries from Lviv is an ode to the once thriving Jewish community in Lviv and a testament to how one person’s dream and commitment can impact the lives of so many. This publication was made possible with support from Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund and Gesher Galicia.
A soaring intellectual narrative starring the radical, brilliant, and provocative philosophers Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil, and Ayn Rand by the critically acclaimed author of Time of the Magicians, Wolfram Eilenberger The period from 1933 to 1943 was one of the darkest and most chaotic in human history, as the Second World War unfolded with unthinkable cruelty. It was also a crucial decade in the dramatic, intersecting lives of some of history’s greatest philosophers. There were four women, in particular, whose parallel ideas would come to dominate the twentieth century—at once in necessary dialogue and in striking contrast with one another. Simone de Beauvoir, already in a deep emotional and intellectual partnership with Jean-Paul Sartre, was laying the foundations for nothing less than the future of feminism. Born Alisa Rosenbaum in Saint Petersburg, Ayn Rand immigrated to the United States in 1926 and was honing one of the most politically influential voices of the twentieth century. Her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged would reach the hearts and minds of millions of Americans in the decades to come, becoming canonical libertarian texts that continue to echo today among Silicon Valley’s tech elite. Hannah Arendt was developing some of today’s most important liberal ideas, culminating with the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism and her arrival as a peerless intellectual celebrity. Perhaps the greatest thinker of all was a classmate of Beauvoir’s: Simone Weil, who turned away from fame to devote herself entirely to refugee aid and the resistance movement during the war. Ultimately, in 1943, she would starve to death in England, a martyr and true saint in the eyes of many. Few authors can synthesize gripping storytelling with sophisticated philosophy as Wolfram Eilenberger does. The Visionaries tells the story of four singular philosophers—indomitable women who were refugees and resistance fighters—each putting forward a vision of a truly free and open society at a time of authoritarianism and war.
Visions and Visionaries is an apt title for this volume of essays on contemporary Austrian literature and film, because this collection offers insightful discussions of a gallery of significant authors and cultural figures. It also investigates important issues of style and genre, and portrays questions of Austrian identity and culture in rich contexts of recent literary and multi-media developments, cross-cultural interactions, and historical forces. This book encompasses relevant trends and notions from the past - especially the complexities of lingering effects of the Nazi era - along with issues of the future - in particular the present and anticipated interactions of culture and cyberspace. The essays are enhanced by poems by Evelyn Schlag and Gerhard Kofler.
The essays in this volume evolved from papers presented at the Second International Thornton Wilder Conference, held at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, in June 2015. They examine Wilder’s work as both playwright and novelist, focusing upon how he drew on the collaborative mode of creativity required in the theatre, when writing both drama and fiction. The book’s authors use the term “collaboration” in its broadest sense, at times in response to Wilder’s critics who faulted him for “borrowing” from other, earlier, literary works rather than recognizing these “borrowings” as central to the artistic process of collaboration. In exploring Wilder’s collaborative efforts of different kinds, the essays not only consider how Wilder worked with and revised earlier literary texts and the ideas central to those texts, but also analyze how Wilder worked with and inspired other creative individuals and how recent productions of Wilder’s plays, both in the US and abroad, have been the products of unique forms of collaboration.
Year 2023 marks 120 years of the Lazarus Jewish Hospital in Lviv. The richly illustrated book Visionaries from Lviv: The Story of a Jewish Hospital is a tribute to its place in once vibrant Jewish community of the city and in the society at large during the period 1903-1939. The book presents hospital's history and its architecture, its doctors, and its founder, Maurycy Lazarus, with the background of the Jewish life in Galicia at the time, and especially in Lviv. It also describes what preceded it - the state of medicine and medical education in Habsburg Galicia, Jewish access to the medical profession, as well as progress of women in general, and Jewish women in particular, in their quest to become medical doctors. Maurycy Lazarus's social, political, and philantropic activities are depicted using both publicly available and family records. The lives of his children, so different from his own, represent choices the young people were facing at the turn of the twentieth century.
This book approaches the concept of cosmopolitan sociability as a cultural or territorial rootedness that facilitates a simultaneous openness to shared human emotions, experiences, and aspirations. Cosmopolitan Sociability critiques definitions of cosmopolitanism as a tolerance for cultural difference or a universalist morality that arise from contemporary experiences of mobility and globalization. Challenging these assumptions, the book explores the degree to which a 'cosmopolitan dimension' can be practised within particular religious communities, diasporic ties, or gendered migrant identities in different parts of the world. A wide variety of expert contributors offer rich ethnographic insights into the interplay of social interactions and cosmopolitan sociability. In this way the book contributes significantly to ethnic and migration studies, global anthropology, social theory, and religious and cultural studies. Cosmopolitan Sociability was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.
This book presents a theory as well as methods to understand and to purposively influence complex systems. It suggests a theory of complex systems as nested systems, i. e. systems that enclose other systems and that are simultaneously enclosed by even other systems. According to the theory presented, each enclosing system emerges through time from the generative activities of the systems they enclose. Systems are nested and often emerge unplanned, and every system of high dynamics is enclosed by a system of slower dynamics. An understanding of systems with faster dynamics, which are always guided by systems of slower dynamics, opens up not only new ways to understanding systems, but also to effectively influence them. The aim and subject of this book is to lay out these thoughts and explain their relevance to the purposive development of complex systems, which are exemplified in case studies from an urban system. The interested reader, who is not required to be familiar with system-theoretical concepts or with theories of emergence, will be guided through the development of a theory of emergent nested systems. The reader will also learn about new ways to influence the course of events - even though the course of events is, in principle, unpredictable, due to the ever-new emergence of real novelty.
This volume offers a comprehensive perspective on the relationship between the art scene and agencies of the state in countries of the region, throughout four consecutive yet highly diverse historical periods: from the period of state integration after World War I, through the communist era post 1945 and the time of political transformation after 1989, to the present-day globalisation (including counter-reactions to westernisation and cultural homogenisation). With twenty-three theoretically and/or empirically oriented articles by authors from sixteen countries (East Central Europe and beyond, including the United States and Australia), the book discusses interconnections between state policies and artistic institutions, trends and the art market from diverse research perspectives. The contributors explore subjects such as the impact of war on the formation of national identities, the role of artists in image-building for the new national states emerging after 1918, the impact of political systems on artists’ attitudes, the discourses of art history, museum studies, monument conservation and exhibition practices. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, cultural politics, cultural history, and East Central European studies and history.
"Moshe's Children presents the inspiring story of Moshe Zeiri, a Jewish carpenter responsible for rescuing hundreds of Jewish refugee children who had survived the Final Solution. During the liberation of Italy, Zeiri, a volunteer in the British Army in Italy, assumed responsibility for and vowed to help around seven hundred Polish, Hungarian, Russian, and Romanian children. Although these orphans of the Shoah had been deprived of a family, a home, and a language and were irreparably robbed of their past, they were able to rebuild their lives through Zeiri's efforts as he founded the largest Jewish orphanage in postwar Europe in Selvino, Italy, where he began to rehabilitate the orphans and to teach them how to become citizens of the new nation of Israel. Moshe's Children also explores Zeiri's own story from birth in a shtetl to his upbringing and Zionist education, his journey to the Land of Israel, and his work there before the war. With narrative verve and scholarly acumen, Sergio Luzzatto brilliantly tells the gripping stories of these orphans of the Holocaust and the good man who helped point them to a real future"--
"Rebuilding Ukraine: A Blueprint for Sustainable Post-War Urban Reconstruction" by Thomas A.Q.T. Truong, an MIT Innovator under 35 Europe 2023 in AI, presents a visionary and comprehensive plan for reconstructing Ukraine's urban landscape following conflict. This groundbreaking work offers a roadmap for transforming devastation into opportunity, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and innovative governance models to create resilient, sustainable, and thriving cities. Truong's blueprint is structured around key pillars of urban development, each integrating advanced technologies and forward-thinking strategies: 1. Smart Infrastructure: The book advocates for the integration of IoT sensor networks, AI-driven systems, and renewable energy solutions to create efficient, adaptive urban environments. 2. Sustainable Housing: It proposes innovative approaches like 3D-printed emergency shelters, energy-positive buildings, and community-centric design to address immediate needs and long-term sustainability. 3. Green Spaces and Biodiversity: Truong emphasizes the importance of urban forests, vertical gardens, and wildlife corridors in enhancing quality of life and environmental resilience. 4. Circular Economy: The plan incorporates waste-to-resource centers and material banks, promoting resource efficiency and minimizing environmental impact. 5. Advanced Transportation: From autonomous vehicles to hyperloop networks, the book envisions a future of seamless, sustainable urban mobility. 6. Innovative Governance: Truong introduces concepts like AI-assisted policymaking, blockchain-based voting systems, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) for transparent, efficient urban management. 7. Education and Healthcare: The blueprint reimagines these sectors with VR historical reconstructions, AI-powered personalized learning, and bioprinting centers for organ engineering. 8. Food Systems: Vertical hydroponic farms and underground mushroom cultivation are proposed to enhance urban food security and sustainability. 9. Economic Revitalization: The book outlines strategies for attracting investments, supporting local businesses, and creating innovation hubs to drive economic recovery. Throughout the work, Truong emphasizes the critical role of community engagement, proposing gamified citizen feedback platforms and participatory planning processes to ensure that reconstruction efforts align with community needs and aspirations. The book stands out for its holistic approach, addressing not just physical infrastructure but also social cohesion, cultural preservation, and environmental stewardship. It presents a vision of cities that are not only rebuilt but reimagined as beacons of innovation, sustainability, and resilience. Truong's expertise in AI shines through in the proposed use of advanced technologies for urban planning, impact assessment, and governance. The blueprint suggests using AI-driven tools for predictive modeling, resource optimization, and real-time adaptation of urban systems. "Rebuilding Ukraine" is more than a reconstruction manual; it's a bold vision for the future of urban living. It offers a roadmap not just for Ukraine, but for any region facing the challenge of large-scale urban renewal. By integrating cutting-edge technology with human-centric design and sustainable practices, Truong presents a compelling case for how we can build cities that are not just resilient to future challenges, but actively contribute to human flourishing and environmental health. This work is a call to action, urging policymakers, urban planners, technologists, and citizens to seize the opportunity presented by reconstruction to create urban environments that are smarter, greener, and more responsive to human needs. It's a testament to the power of innovation and collective action in the face of adversity, offering hope and a practical path forward for Ukraine and beyond. In essence, "Rebuilding Ukraine" is not just about reconstructing cities; it's about reimagining urban life for the 21st century and beyond. It's a visionary work that could well serve as a blueprint for the future of cities worldwide.
