Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2014 August 5

= August 5 =

Disability Studies textbooks
I'm looking to acquire a few undergraduate level books about Disability Studies. My Bachelors is in Communication Science, so I don't have a basic grounding specifically in the subject. I intend taking a post-graduate course in Disability Studies within the next year or two. I'd really prefer not to be the class ignoramus when I start. Are there any "must read" books I should study to get up to speed on the basics before starting the course? Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 19:34, 5 August 2014 (UTC)


 * See Category:Disability literature.—Wavelength (talk) 19:49, 5 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Another idea would be to familiarize yourself with whatever laws are in place regarding disability in your jurisdiction. E.g. in the USA this would be the Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990. SemanticMantis (talk) 20:07, 5 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks, but unfortunately the category doesn't contain anything suitable - it's mostly a list of books (fiction and non-fiction) about individuals that have a disability. I've already collected various legislation and policy documents from government websites so that angle is basically covered. The Bibliography in the Disability studies article is a bit too much - perhaps 4 or 5 of the "best" of those would be reasonable, but there's no indication which of them are more comprehensive and comprehensible for a beginner. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 20:35, 5 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Which country will you be studying in? As an ex-sociology/community studies lecturer, my take on it would be to read Tom Shakespeare's books and maybe also Laura Hershey. I'd become familiar with the various models of disability: the Social model, or the bio-psycho-social model (which seems to inform most of Government policy in the UK at the moment)(what no article?). I'd also become familiar with theories of social capital, particularly from John Field, who has written a book on this subject which is very useful. But this all applies to UK courses. If you are in the UK, and are on Facebook or Twitter, there are a number of disabled activists/theorists I could recommend. --TammyMoet (talk) 08:32, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I've created a redirect. Apologies if this spoils anyone's fun. Tevildo (talk) 12:37, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I'm in South Africa, but UK or other sources are welcome. The only book I have at the moment is American, but with a global scope - James Charlton's Nothing About Us Without Us ISBN-9780520224810 - I often found the Neo-Marxist POV difficult to parse. I've come across some of Hershey's work online. Thanks TammyMoet, you've given me good leads to follow up. A few Facebook links would be most welcome too. Disability studies as an academic discipline is still in its infancy in this country (we've been somewhat preoccupied with bigger fish to fry). The University of Cape Town is the only institution offering actual courses - but only at the post-graduate level. (I found Biopsychosocial model). Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 10:33, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * See Amazon.com: disabilities - Medical Books: Books.—Wavelength (talk) 15:50, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks and Wow! is Amazon deliberately trying to be offensive by classifying these books under "Medical"?!?! The problem I have with looking through such lists/catalogues is that I don't know enough about the subject to tell the "essential reading" titles from the junk. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 16:06, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Aren't e.g. Autism, Paraplegia things that cause disabilities and are also medical conditions? Our article on disease says that sometimes broad use of that term includes disabilities. I don't think it's that weird that a book about e.g. Vision_impairment would be classified as both a medical book and a disability book...
 * Anyway, as for separating the wheat from the chaff, why not solicit some of your future instructors? Even if you don't know exactly who will be teaching which course, I'm sure anyone in the department can either help you make a reading list or will direct you to someone who can. SemanticMantis (talk) 17:43, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Disability studies has very little to do with medicine per se, it is primarily concerned with philosophical, ethical, political, economic and sociological issues, which may include topics such as matters pertaining to the provision of health services to people with disabilities, such as why the only dentist in town has her surgery on the second floor of a building without an elevator, thus forcing wheelchair users to incur the additional expense of travelling to the next town for their regular dental checkup; or whether it is a nett gain to society to abort 80% of fetuses that are diagnosed with Down syndrome before 20 weeks gestation. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 21:51, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Saints and particular virtues
Is there a list of Seven virtues that includes saints associated with said virtues, or a list matching up Catholic Saints with corresponding virtues? If the answer is "All saints display every virtue to some degree," yeah, sure, whatever, but certainly particular saints' stories call out particular virtues, and I'm wondering if there are any works that list such correspondences. Heck, I'd even take a list of saints who appear in Dante's Paradiso according to which sphere they're in (although I'm pretty sure he just shuffled them into the eighth sphere and higher to focus more on social commentary rather than hagiography). Ian.thomson (talk) 20:37, 5 August 2014 (UTC)


 * There are a few namesake saints, such as Faith, Hope and Charity, but I've never heard that saints are assigned to virtues in that way. You might have better luck with angelology, or Tolkien's Valar. AnonMoos (talk) 22:28, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks, but already got lists of angels (heck, I overhauled the Shemhamphorasch article not too long ago. Got a list of saints and orishas that correspond, but was hoping someone had tried to tie saints and virtues (even something that fails WP:RS, since I doubt I'd end up using the material here).  I suppose I'll have to settle for synthesizing (not for this site, obviously) the demonologies of Peter Binsfeld and Sebastien Michaelis, and matchng the saints to different virtues through the corresponding vices and demons -- if no one knows of anything that might be useful. Ian.thomson (talk) 03:55, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

The seven deadly virtues, those ghastly little traps

Oh no, my liege, they were not meant for me

Those seven deadly virtues were made for other chaps

Who love a life of failure and ennui

Take courage now there's a sport

An invitation to the state of Rigor Mort

And purity a noble yen

And very restful every now and then

I find humility means to be hurt

It's not the earth the meek inherit, it's the dirt

Honesty is fatal, it should be taboo

Diligence a fate I would hate

If charity means giving, I give it to you

And fidelity is only for your mate, ha

You'll never find a virtue unstatusing my quo

Or making my beelze bubble burst

Let others take the high road, I will take the low

I cannot wait to rush in where angels fear to go

With all those seven deadly virtues

Free and happy little me has not been cursed


 * DuncanHill (talk) 05:05, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Speaking of curses, virtues, FH&C, threes and thirteens, fatal honesty and a lack of humility, here's a spirited theological discussion on how to do unto others I'm quite proud of, preserved for eternity. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:43, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same." GBS. DuncanHill (talk) 05:46, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Fair enough. Nobody's making anybody click anything. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:54, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * And I'll only explain how the virtues connect to the saints through the Care Bear Cousins on a "need to know" basis. InedibleHulk (talk) 07:38, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * More to the point, but not exactly, here is St. Leo the Great's take on charity. I don't have a source saying he's typically associated with that one above the others, but it seems that way to me. InedibleHulk (talk) 07:43, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Yongli Emperor
How large was the retinue which accompanied Yongli Emperor into exile in Burma in 1658?--KAVEBEAR (talk) 21:11, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I've been trying to find out for you since yesterday, but I just can't do it. InedibleHulk (talk) 06:55, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

Languages of the UN
The official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. What languages do nations where none of those languages is an educational language speak?

For example, I'm curious about the following nations: continental Europe, the Lusophone, Japan, etc. I am less curious about places like Philippines (which have a strong English tradition).

FYI, Notes on my most recent viewing:
 * Ukraine spoke English (Not Russian!).
 * Luxembourg spoke something non-English, presumably French.
 * Chad spoke something non-English, presumably French.
 * Nigeria spoke English.
 * South Korea spoke English (IIRC)
 * An Eastern European nation (I cannot remember which; possibly Latvia or Lithuania) spoke something non-English, presumably Russian.

Magog the Ogre (t • c) 22:58, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Just on the Ukrainian issue, there is no preference given as to which language a nation's representatives use in UN business, and Ukraine as a very good political reason to distance itself from Russia in every possible way, despite any linguistic or cultural connection. Nigeria, of course, speaks English as a former British possession.  Chad, likewise, was a former French posession.  Luxembourg has three official languages, French being one of them.  As China is a longtime supporter of North Korea, it is unsurprising that South Korea would distance themselves from China and choose English as it's language of choice (especially since Anglophone countries like the U.S. have long been staunch supporters of the South's cause).  -- Jayron  32  01:45, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * "Luxembourg spoke something non-English" reminds me of "Three Men on the Bummel" by Jerome K. Jerome. Our three friends (to say nothing of the dog) are cycling through Alsace-Lorraine, and observe that 1/3 of the population are offended if you speak to them in French, 1/3 are offended if you speak to them in German, and 1/3 are offended if you speak to them. DuncanHill (talk) 02:01, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Jayron32 -- English is pretty much the general international language in South Korea. Chinese and Japanese are important for aspects of South Korea's foreign relations, trade relations, and history, but ambitious diplomats seeking postings outside East Asia might not consider learning them to be worth the effort.  Ban Ki-moon apparently speaks English and some French... AnonMoos (talk) 03:21, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * With Japan, they sometimes use English and sometimes Japanese. Bear in mind, there is a huge team of interpreters behind the scenes, interpreting all the different languages. If you notice, everyone in the meeting hall has a headset on. They are not all listening to Gangnam Style. There is a central office, where all the translators are. If a non-'standard' language is used, this will be presumably translated into English by the Japanese/English translator, and the other translators will translate the English translation. This may sound like there would be a delay, but this is not the case. All of the interpreters are simultaneous interpreters, so there would be no unusual delay whatsoever. KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 04:10, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * If someone says "President Kennedy demands that you remove the ICBMs" and the correct Languagese is "dartooseabombo the demand-aqo you that remove-apa Kennedyo Presidento" wouldn't the best they could do sound like "ICBM demands you that removes Kennedy President" does to us? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:39, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * What are you talking about? KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 00:09, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I am similarly befuddled by the question, but see word order. It might have something to do with what you're asking about... maybe... I think... Okay, I'm really not sure. Evan (talk&#124;contribs) 16:07, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * And that reminds me of the time when the French delegate felt it appropriate to refer to the proverbial sagacity of the people of Normandy. "La sagesse Normande" became "Norman Wisdom". DuncanHill (talk) 04:19, 6 August 2014 (UTC)