UL history lecturer publishes paper on legendof Ismeria
By ConorForrest
DR.Catherine Lawless, lecturer in Art History at the University, has published anarticle in the Journal of Medieval History on the legend of Ismeria, thegrandmother of Mary and great-grandmother of Jesus Christ. Dr. Lawless made thediscovery while examining 14 th and 15 th centuryFlorentine documents.
In otherversions of Christ’s lineage, Ismeria is described as the sister of St. Anneand grandmother of St. John the Baptist. But in manuscripts analyzed by Dr.Lawless, she is named as the mother of St. Anne and so, the grandmother of theVirgin Mary.
Dr. Lawlesssaid “most of the legend is concerned with Ismeria’s life of penitential pietyas a wife and widow and has little in common with standard legends of theVirgin or Saint Anne”.
Lawless haspointed out that the manuscripts she has examined are obscure and have neverbeen popularly accepted. She states “It is a legend – a story – it has noorigins in scripture or doctrine”.
In thislegend, Ismeria was of the tribe of King David and married Santo Liseo, a“patriarch of the people of God”. After 12 years, Liseo died and relatives leftIsmeria penniless, finding refuge in a hospital where she performed miracles,filling a shell with fish to feed all the patients then asking God to take herto heaven. Jesus, the 12 Apostles, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene travel tothe hospital to pay honour to her.
This legendmarks a shift in belief; sanctity was usually earned through blood martyrdomrather than good works. Lawless credits this in part to the rise in a belief inPurgatory.
GeorgeFerzoco, a research fellow at the University of Bristol, said that the paperanalysing the legend is “brilliant” and “reveals an exciting trove of religiousmaterial from late medieval and renaissance Florence”.
Theidentity of the author is unknown. “Some manuscripts like these ones werewritten or copied in monastic scriptoria, some were handed down as familyheirlooms or lent between friends and copied in that way” said Dr. Lawless. “Wehave no known author for this legend”.
By ConorForrest
DR.Catherine Lawless, lecturer in Art History at the University, has published anarticle in the Journal of Medieval History on the legend of Ismeria, thegrandmother of Mary and great-grandmother of Jesus Christ. Dr. Lawless made thediscovery while examining 14 th and 15 th centuryFlorentine documents.
In otherversions of Christ’s lineage, Ismeria is described as the sister of St. Anneand grandmother of St. John the Baptist. But in manuscripts analyzed by Dr.Lawless, she is named as the mother of St. Anne and so, the grandmother of theVirgin Mary.
Dr. Lawlesssaid “most of the legend is concerned with Ismeria’s life of penitential pietyas a wife and widow and has little in common with standard legends of theVirgin or Saint Anne”.
Lawless haspointed out that the manuscripts she has examined are obscure and have neverbeen popularly accepted. She states “It is a legend – a story – it has noorigins in scripture or doctrine”.
In thislegend, Ismeria was of the tribe of King David and married Santo Liseo, a“patriarch of the people of God”. After 12 years, Liseo died and relatives leftIsmeria penniless, finding refuge in a hospital where she performed miracles,filling a shell with fish to feed all the patients then asking God to take herto heaven. Jesus, the 12 Apostles, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene travel tothe hospital to pay honour to her.
This legendmarks a shift in belief; sanctity was usually earned through blood martyrdomrather than good works. Lawless credits this in part to the rise in a belief inPurgatory.
GeorgeFerzoco, a research fellow at the University of Bristol, said that the paperanalysing the legend is “brilliant” and “reveals an exciting trove of religiousmaterial from late medieval and renaissance Florence”.
Theidentity of the author is unknown. “Some manuscripts like these ones werewritten or copied in monastic scriptoria, some were handed down as familyheirlooms or lent between friends and copied in that way” said Dr. Lawless. “Wehave no known author for this legend”.
GMIT launches new external probe
By ConorForrest
GALWAY MayoInstitute of Technology (GMIT) has launched an external probe into an incidentof cheating at the college, and how this incident was dealt with by the school.The governing body has invited a UCD academic and a barrister and mediator toconduct an independent investigation into the incident, which has already beenthe subject of three internal inquiries.
GMIT hasalready taken action against the lecturer involved and has announced thedevelopment of a new “quality improvement plan” in order to raise standards atthe college.
Theincident involved a final year student in the School of Business who gainedaccess to a password protected instructors manual, containing sample answersfor assessment questions. It is alleged that a lecturer at the college providedthe student with their password. The student involved did have marks deductedyet graduated last autumn.
Investigatorswill review senior personnel within the college including Heads of Departmentand members of the student disciplinary committee, as well as anyone deemed bythe panel to be relevant to the issue. The scope of the investigation willinclude the manner in which the complaint was made, and communication betweenthe department and the institute. The panel will also assess whether any memberof staff was involved in suppressing or concealing the incident.
Recentinquiries found that the School of Business treated the incident as a “minor”case of plagiarism whereas it should have been considered “major”, and dealtwith by management at a higher level.
The reportinto the college is expected to be completed by the end of the college semesterand could possibly expand into other allegations of plagiarism. The college’sacademic board has already recommended the dissolution of a board whichreviewed suspect student performance before and during exams.
By ConorForrest
GALWAY MayoInstitute of Technology (GMIT) has launched an external probe into an incidentof cheating at the college, and how this incident was dealt with by the school.The governing body has invited a UCD academic and a barrister and mediator toconduct an independent investigation into the incident, which has already beenthe subject of three internal inquiries.
GMIT hasalready taken action against the lecturer involved and has announced thedevelopment of a new “quality improvement plan” in order to raise standards atthe college.
Theincident involved a final year student in the School of Business who gainedaccess to a password protected instructors manual, containing sample answersfor assessment questions. It is alleged that a lecturer at the college providedthe student with their password. The student involved did have marks deductedyet graduated last autumn.
Investigatorswill review senior personnel within the college including Heads of Departmentand members of the student disciplinary committee, as well as anyone deemed bythe panel to be relevant to the issue. The scope of the investigation willinclude the manner in which the complaint was made, and communication betweenthe department and the institute. The panel will also assess whether any memberof staff was involved in suppressing or concealing the incident.
Recentinquiries found that the School of Business treated the incident as a “minor”case of plagiarism whereas it should have been considered “major”, and dealtwith by management at a higher level.
The reportinto the college is expected to be completed by the end of the college semesterand could possibly expand into other allegations of plagiarism. The college’sacademic board has already recommended the dissolution of a board whichreviewed suspect student performance before and during exams.
Higher fees, wider access, demands Clegg
By ConorForrest
THE BritishDeputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has warned that universities have become“instruments of social segregation” as the government seeks to widen access tothose universities with tuition rates of more than £6,000 per year.Universities that wish to charge up to the £9,000 limit will be pushed toaccept larger amounts of students from state schools.
Fee payingschools have already attacked the government’s education initiatives, claimingthey are an attempt to socially engineer university admissions, at the expenseof the brightest students. Ministers, however, are increasingly concerned aboutprivate education. Clegg’s aides noted that around 7% of children in Englandattend private schools yet make up about 75% of judges and 70% of financedirectors.
SimonHughes, the government’s advisor on access to higher education has proposed adrastic limitation on the intake of privately educated students, morereflective of their proportion to those educated publicly. Universities willalso be required to invest up to £900 in outreach policies for every £9,000paid. The government watchdog, theOffice for Fair Access (OFFA), will draw up agreements with the affectedinstitutions. Those agreements will be reviewed annually. Any institution whichdoes not make progress could be stripped of the right to charge higher tuitionrates or could face fines up to a maximum of £500,000.
Inconjunction with these proposals, the government is also due to outline moredetails of its national scholarship programme. This is designed for brightstudents from poorer backgrounds and is intended to fund 48,000 students by2014. A source highlighted the its importance, saying “Nick knows that ourreforms to higher education will have failed if we do not achieve our statedprimary goal of getting more kids from poor backgrounds into university andparticularly into our top universities.”
Oxford,Cambridge and Exeter have each raised their fees to the government limit andare among those universities who will be affected by the proposals.
By ConorForrest
THE BritishDeputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has warned that universities have become“instruments of social segregation” as the government seeks to widen access tothose universities with tuition rates of more than £6,000 per year.Universities that wish to charge up to the £9,000 limit will be pushed toaccept larger amounts of students from state schools.
Fee payingschools have already attacked the government’s education initiatives, claimingthey are an attempt to socially engineer university admissions, at the expenseof the brightest students. Ministers, however, are increasingly concerned aboutprivate education. Clegg’s aides noted that around 7% of children in Englandattend private schools yet make up about 75% of judges and 70% of financedirectors.
SimonHughes, the government’s advisor on access to higher education has proposed adrastic limitation on the intake of privately educated students, morereflective of their proportion to those educated publicly. Universities willalso be required to invest up to £900 in outreach policies for every £9,000paid. The government watchdog, theOffice for Fair Access (OFFA), will draw up agreements with the affectedinstitutions. Those agreements will be reviewed annually. Any institution whichdoes not make progress could be stripped of the right to charge higher tuitionrates or could face fines up to a maximum of £500,000.
Inconjunction with these proposals, the government is also due to outline moredetails of its national scholarship programme. This is designed for brightstudents from poorer backgrounds and is intended to fund 48,000 students by2014. A source highlighted the its importance, saying “Nick knows that ourreforms to higher education will have failed if we do not achieve our statedprimary goal of getting more kids from poor backgrounds into university andparticularly into our top universities.”
Oxford,Cambridge and Exeter have each raised their fees to the government limit andare among those universities who will be affected by the proposals.
Limerick DJ to live in Brown Thomas window
By ConorForrest
Local Live95FM DJ, Mark Whelan, received a warm reception as he arrived at Brown Thomason Tuesday afternoon as part of a unique fundraising attempt.
Mark, whopresents the breakfast show for the popular radio station, will be living inthe window of the shop until Saturday afternoon. Over the course of the 95hours, Mark will eat, sleep, watch television as well as other activities;members of the public will also be able see him take part in challenges andtasks with local celebrities.
Proceedsfrom the fundraiser will be donated to the Ark Children’s Unit at the Regionalhospital in Dooradoyle and CARI. “I’m a bit nervous about it, but it is for twogreat causes and that is the reason I have agreed to do this” said Mark beforeentering the window.
A number ofother staff members at Live 95FM will also be undertaking tasks as part of thecharity event. These will include public leg-waxings, city walks andfundraising cycles. Members of the public canlet the station know of any ideas regarding fundraising via their Facebook pageor by sending a text to 085 1719595.
“Mark going into the window is great for us," said JeanMaloney who works in the paediatric unit at the Ark Children's unit.
Jean also spoke of how the money raised this week will go towards their overallfundraising efforts. "Our aim is to raise €350,000 for the paediatric highdependency unit which will be spent on new equipment and the training anddevelopment of staff to maintain their skills, as we are the first paediatricunit that has opened outside of Dublin."
Buckets are located at the Hospital, Brown Thomas, Supervaluin Grove Island and Live 95fm on the Dock Road. Details on how to donate bytext or to the bank account are available on the Live95fm website.
By ConorForrest
Local Live95FM DJ, Mark Whelan, received a warm reception as he arrived at Brown Thomason Tuesday afternoon as part of a unique fundraising attempt.
Mark, whopresents the breakfast show for the popular radio station, will be living inthe window of the shop until Saturday afternoon. Over the course of the 95hours, Mark will eat, sleep, watch television as well as other activities;members of the public will also be able see him take part in challenges andtasks with local celebrities.
Proceedsfrom the fundraiser will be donated to the Ark Children’s Unit at the Regionalhospital in Dooradoyle and CARI. “I’m a bit nervous about it, but it is for twogreat causes and that is the reason I have agreed to do this” said Mark beforeentering the window.
A number ofother staff members at Live 95FM will also be undertaking tasks as part of thecharity event. These will include public leg-waxings, city walks andfundraising cycles. Members of the public canlet the station know of any ideas regarding fundraising via their Facebook pageor by sending a text to 085 1719595.
“Mark going into the window is great for us," said JeanMaloney who works in the paediatric unit at the Ark Children's unit.
Jean also spoke of how the money raised this week will go towards their overallfundraising efforts. "Our aim is to raise €350,000 for the paediatric highdependency unit which will be spent on new equipment and the training anddevelopment of staff to maintain their skills, as we are the first paediatricunit that has opened outside of Dublin."
Buckets are located at the Hospital, Brown Thomas, Supervaluin Grove Island and Live 95fm on the Dock Road. Details on how to donate bytext or to the bank account are available on the Live95fm website.
