STRATEGY FOR CULTURE
Year:2014 | Volume:7 | Issue:25|Papers Count:7

The present paper is an attempt to study the history of the idea of 'Islamic University'. Contrary to what is commonly perceived, the idea of 'Islamic University' existed before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which was put forth for the first time in late 1950s. At least three trends prepared the grounds for the emergence of the idea of 'Islamic University' during this period: first, anti-religious policies of the Pahlavi I and Pahlavi II regimes, particularly the need to infiltrate the religious organizations in order to confront the revolutionary clerics after the 1963 Uprising; second, the issue of Palestine and the need to repair Iran’s Islamic image among Muslim countries to thwart the effects of the regime’s warm relations with the Israeli regime in the course of the Arab-Israeli wars; and third, the emergence of the selfcriticism trend in the West in the post-Second World War era and the necessity of revising modern sciences, which led to the emergence of critical trends against modernity and modern sciences, including traditionalism with the pivotal role of Seyed Hussein Nasr in Iran. As a result of these three trends, the Pahlavi government tried to establish an 'Islamic University', while the revolutionary clerics, led by Imam Khomeini, opposed it for about two decades. The findings of this research also indicate that a kind of transition from political approach to identity approach to persuasion of the idea of 'Islamic University' took place in the pre-Revolution era. In the post-Revolution era, the idea was followed through epistemological approach in search of monotheistic sciences within a new semantic framework reflected in the 1980 Cultural Revolution. However, some of the former mechanisms for the follow-up of this plan were pursued in the post-Revolution era. The present study was conducted through Foucault’s approach to historical studies focusing on archeological method.

The main objective of the present research is to review the concept of 'national responsibility' and design and validate a scale for its measurement. Combined exploratory research method was used for the purpose of this research. In the first place, the concept of national responsibility was reviewed through interview with 34 government employees. At this stage, grounded theory method was used. The results of the interview were classified on the basis of certain themes and the main and secondary themes and primary and secondary codes were extracted. In the light of the obtained results, national responsibility became operational with three dimensions: individual responsibility (responsibility towards self and family); organizational responsibility; and social responsibility. Formal and content validity was assessed with the help of 17 experts. The construct validity was assessed by studying the relationship between national responsibility and organizational indifference and organizational citizenship behavior for both of which standard questionnaires are available. The validity of the construct was studied by first and second order confirmatory factor analysis. The final questionnaire was distributed among 10 government organizations and the final garnered information was used for validation of the scale and testing the research hypotheses. Statistical analysis sustained the hypotheses and suitability of the research model. Hence, it may be concluded that national responsibility has significant negative relationship with organizational indifference and significant positive relationship with organizational citizenship behavior. In the light of these results, the said scale enjoys a high degree of validity.

Social capital is an important and popular term in a wide range of social sciences disciplines. Contrary to this common use and its entry in everyday life conversations and rehtoric of politicians, literature on enhancing social capital for utilizing its benefits is not well-developed. Therefore, the article tries to answer a question regarding considerations and strategies needed for management of social capital in Iran. After analysing and assessing main approaches in terms of their definitions and explanations of social capital, synergy approach is used as a theoretical framework for extracting main strategic suggestions for enhancing social capital. The synergy approach concentrates on both institutional and functional characteristics of the state, social networks and finally on the pattern of intereaction between them. therefore, strategies based on this approach are prefered for the purpose of enhancing social capital.

One of the most famous stereotypes in academic circles is the idea that writing a lot is in sharp contrast to good writing. So, to be a good writer, we should avoid writing much. This cliché is so powerful that virtually nobody has tried to challenge it. In this article, the writer has attempted to question this belief and to analyze it critically. To achieve this end, he has articulated and reported five reasons in defense of this idea. Then he has tried to show insufficiency of them. At the end, referring to Lotka's Law, the writer has concluded that writing a lot, but at the same time well-structured and according to all grammatical rules, is the first and prime condition for knowledge production. In fact, there are mostly a few people who constitute the core of scientific disciplines, who were usually prolific writers and enriched the literature of their subjects through prolific writing, such as Aristotle, Farabi, Avicenna, Aquinas, Walton, and Rescher.

The main purpose of the present paper is to study the degree of observation of ethical standards in the PhD theses at the Faculty of Humanities of Ferdowsi University, Mashad. Content analysis has been employed for the purpose of this study. All PhD theses defended in a period of five years between 2007 and 2012 have been analyzed by using the researcher-made list. The following elements have been used in the list: observation of the rights of participants, observation of ethical principles in giving references and sources, observation of ethical principles in preparation of research report and having ethical codes. The findings of the research indicate that some ethical standards have been observed in major chunk of the PhD theses, while other standards of research ethics have either been neglected or have not been precisely reported. For example, the findings indicate that in most of the theses (75 percent) the following elements have been observed: anonymity of participants, secrecy, clarity of the method of data collection, report on validity of research tools, clarity of method of data analysis, congruity of the method of data analysis with the method of conducting research, and having ethical code. Also in 50 percent of the theses reference standards have been observed, while in 5 percent of the theses the following elements have been taken into consideration: getting conscious consent, giving information about the objectives and nature of the research to the participants, introduction of the researcher to the respondents, health and convenience of the participants, seeking a remedy for negative consequences of research and preparation of a stress-free environment.

The present research follows two main objectives: 1- Studying the tendency of the members of the National Elite Foundation of Mazandaran Province to emigrate; and 2- Studying the effective social factors and grounds for tendency of the scientific elite to migrate. Lee’s theory of pull and push has been used as theoretical framework. Based on this framework and the existing empirical studies as well as consultation with experts, a questionnaire was prepared for this study (construct and formal validity). The reliability of the scales was approved by Cronbach’s alpha. After three follow-ups, 40 scientific elite responded to email requests. The data collected through 32 filled questionnaires were analyzed. The findings of the study indicate that more than half (54 percent) of the responding elite were inclined to stay in Iran, while more than one-forth (25.45) were inclined to emigrate. In viewpoint of the population studied, the resultant of low degree of pull in the origin and high degree of push in the origin and high degree of pull in the destination are the factors for the tendency of the elite to emigrate. Among the pull factors, job opportunities are the most important ones for the tendency of the elite to emigrate; while unsuitable grounds for continuation of education and research as well as insufficient appreciation of the scientific elite are the most important push factors causing the tendency of the elite towards emigration.

The spread of English language in the era known as globalization has had various consequences for linguistic, cultural, social, political and educational systems, whose results have been emergence of some sweeping discussions, trends and criticisms around the subject. The study of the current situation in Iran indicates that despite the growing spread of English language, not only a comprehensive plan has not been prepared to deal with this trend, but also certain aspects of this important issue have been neglected in the existing studies. The present study is an attempt to pursue the following objectives: introducing the trend though briefly; shedding light on the necessity of promoting English language in different areas, while confirming some cultural, social, political and ideological differences between the Iranian and English-speaking societies; and presenting an effective strategy -based on existing viewpoints and through a critical approach -for dealing with English language, particularly in education sector that plays the most important role in systematic promotion of English language in Iran.