The Graduate Division serves more than 13,000 students in over 100 graduate degree programs We are here to help you from the time you are admitted until you complete your graduate program We're thrilled you're considering Berkeley for your graduate study We offer more than 100 programs for master's and doctoral students to pursue their dreams Working toward obtaining your graduate degree at Berkeley is an exciting and challenging endeavor but funding your graduate education shouldn’t be your greatest challenge We're here to support you as you progress through your degree and help you understand the policies and procedures that inform your graduate education and the GSI Teaching & Resource Center can support you in your academic and professional development at all stages of your degree program and in preparing for your career The Office for Graduate Diversity provides support and services for prospective and continuing students in an effort to support and sustain a more diverse graduate student community Your gift allows us to deliver an inclusive world-class experience to graduate students so they can make a difference at Berkeley and beyond In this lecture Béatrice Longuenesse examines Elizabeth Anscombe’s analysis of our use of the first-person pronoun ‘I’ and its relation to self-consciousness Longuenesse argues that Anscombe’s account receives unexpected support from a philosophical approach which is very different from hers: Jean-Paul Sartre’s phenomenological description of consciousness and their expression in our use of ‘I.’ Anscombe’s characterization of self-consciousness as the non-observational happenings and states” is close to Sartre’s characterization of what he calls “non-thetic” or “non-positional” self-consciousness The Graduate Division oversees graduate admissions Give Feedback Learn more about the Campaign for Berkeley and Graduate Fellowships Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: What does our use of ‘I’ tell us about our relationship with ourselves Do we refer to ourselves as unique individuals or rather as the carriers of thoughts that we share with all other human beings Longuenesse explores these two contrasting aspects of ‘I’ such as the illusion that you yourself are responsible for your thoughts and actions its use appears to be an indispensable tool to refer to themselves Longuenesse held the Spinoza Chair in 2017 the Philosophy Department of the University of Amsterdam has annually appointed a high-profile foreign philosopher to the Spinoza Chair the Spinoza professor gives a number of lectures intended for a wide audience that would like to keep abreast of current developments in philosophy Read more about the book The First Person in Cognition and Morality View recordings of the lectures: Perplexing I and Two unlikely bedfellows: Kant and Freud on Morality Translated from French by Noël Burch The Syrian regime was proud of having practically done away with illiteracy made primary schooling accessible in every part of the country and secondary and higher education available to increasing numbers of Syrian youths the rate of primary school enrolment in 2011 was 99.6% for any given age group and was practically equivalent for girls and boys it was 58% with only a slight advantage for boys while illiteracy was not entirely eliminated and 95% for young adults between 15 and 25 These seemingly remarkable figures must in fact be taken with a grain of salt “We came to realise that we did not really know our society,” says Sahar When she and her friends decided to help families fleeing the bombs of the regime everywhere in the country they discovered the true extent of illiteracy as well as practices they thought had been eliminated such as the early marriage of little girls – which the general violence and disappearance of fathers have made worse – but also the considerable numbers of children whose births were not officially registered and therefore are not enrolled in any school Not only were the material conditions woefully deficient but the educational methods were authoritarian with a predominance of learning by heart and the inculcation of obedience to authority through “patriotic education” (tarbiya wataninyya) which has developed a servile devotion to the Nation and the State and an abstract and passive relationship to knowledge unbridled population growth had given rise to seriously overcrowded classrooms Private lessons had flourished and profit-making educational institutions emerged to provide support for pupils of primary and secondary public schools often ensured by the staff of those same schools Today, when nearly a third of the population is in exile and almost as many have fled their homes for another part of the country, nearly half the children are out of school. In 2015, according to a report by the UN Secretary General the Syrian Ministry of Education admitted that “since the beginning of the conflict more than 6,500 schools have been destroyed used as shelters for internally displaced persons or rendered otherwise inaccessible.” According to a Unicef report for 2016 “Syria counts 2.1 million school-age children (5 to 17) who are not in school 600,000 Syrian refugee children scattered throughout the region are also deprived of an education.” hospitals or public buildings have been spared; in fact they have often been targeted by the bombings while many school buildings were made available to needy displaced persons for varying length of time public schools still in activity have seen the size of classes double or triple not to mention the predicament of exiles in neighbouring countries or refugee camps for the thousands of children whose families have been forced to move house two three or four times – sometimes even more – it means either an interruption in their schooling or a delay of several years before it can even begin the children from areas abandoned by the public service and who are no longer listed in the civil registry if they ever were add to the number of out-of-school children Nayla, a teacher from Idlib whom I met in Damascus early in December 2018 told me about the arrival of the Al-Nosra Front in 20151: how its fighters had forced women to dress according to supposedly “Islamic” norms hunting down those whose dresses showed a bit of ankle; how “kids” separated the women from their husbands in collective taxis making the men sit on the front seats and the women in back; how they accused civil servants of being shabiha (members of the government’s militia); how they changed their teaching curriculum However she also said that when “the coalition” took control of the city women known as murchidates (good conduct overseers) were sent into the schools to supervise the way the girls were dressed One incident caused a great stir around town: during an exam one of these murchidates tried to force a girl to leave the room because she felt she was incorrectly dressed The other pupils stood up for their classmate until her father arrived in a rage and forced the so-called educator to leave the pupils alone whereas the Al-Nosra Front had imposed its own school curricula by doing away with philosophy classes when the schools came under the control of the coalition the official curriculum was restored merely purged of its political content and the cult of the Assad family there was even one school where the personnel was still being paid by the central government and which continued to use the official curriculum in its entirety in a certain number of regions which the regime has ceased to control since 2012 the teachers who remained on the job went on receiving their pay for varying periods of time following the official curriculum minus a few courses like “patriotic education” or “social studies.” Indeed the teachers’ main concern was enabling pupils to prepare for the exams which would earn them officially recognised diplomas the Regional Council had taken over the educational system restored many school buildings and paid teachers’ salaries The latter also followed the official programmes eliminating the political education courses but introducing new artistic activities and training teachers in new educational methods Regions administered by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party represent a special case: its autonomous administration has set up a teaching program in Kurdish while maintaining classes in their own language for Arabic-speaking pupils and creating specific classes for the tiny minority whose language is Syriac The curricula have been completely made over in keeping with the political project of the new regime In the regions which have remained in the bosom of the regime or returned to it all children must officially be able to attend public school However the extent of displacements within the country has caused terrible overcrowding of classrooms and a deterioration of the children’s material environment even after a second section has been opened here and there we are told the pressure has been lessened due to the return home of displaced families reports that rosters have risen from 30 to 40 or 50 per class as a result of the influx of displaced families A large share of the population of the Sunni districts were able to flee the Spring massacre of 2013 but the schools they left behind them were destroyed a number of families have now returned to their villages and their districts the overcrowding is sometimes made worse by the parents’ reluctance to accept the splitting of the classes they want their children all to be on the same schedule: in Banyas most of the schools appear to have given up that solution while another witness reports that in Lattakia the school authority set up morning and afternoon sessions where until now the only pre-school educational structures were private and charged tuition associations have set up two nursery schools meant specifically for children of displaced families their limited resources do not allow them to satisfy the demand One of them is run by activists who decided to operate in keeping with officialdom thus making it possible for them legally to receive foreign aid and pay wages but obliging them to submit to stringent official surveillance The other refuses to depend either on governmental control or help from foreign donors and hence has greater freedom but smaller resources: it mainly relies on a voluntary workforce and on its ties with groups of exiles who manage to send them small amounts of aid through unofficial channels who began by working with the Syrian Red Crescent managed to open a shelter for displaced children within Two types of activities are carried out there: in the evening children are taken in hand who need to make up for lost time in basic subjects (Arabic maths); the daytime is for children who have been denied schooling for lack of any ID extracurricular activities are organised which are open to all and which include body language sessions meant to alleviate accumulated stress Activities for pre-school children are meant both to help them overcome the traumas they have experienced and prepare them for primary school activists all lay emphasis on the way the overcrowding of primary classes is likely to cancel out much of these efforts as soon the children arrive in the official schools To what extent will the failings of public education favour the development of a private sector, confessional or for profit, which was already in full swing before the uprising began 2011?3 Knowing that 80% of the Syrian population lives below the poverty line it is obvious that only a minority can be concerned by a development which widens the gap between a tiny elite of privileged citizens and the masses I am told of a growing number of ‘institutes’which offer complementary evening classes for groups of twenty pupils often taught by teachers from the public school system who are thus able to top up their monthly wages or old-age pensions has classes in three of these private institutes and explains to me that these existed long before the ‘events’ began the obligation to hold classes in ‘patriotic education’ ‘national culture’ and other ‘social studies’ had grown less stringent prior to 2011 the government still insists on guarding the curricula against any attempt to introduce ‘subversive ideas’ UNICEF, whose official partner is still the State, has contributed to the ‘modernisation’ of the curricula in order to help pupils catch up their lost ground and more generally to rethink the whole school syllabus. However the curricula under elaboration are the object of debates and controversies which are likely to water down the teaching content even more and civic instruction are not the only matters at stake here; literature as well can come under fire since an author praised by the opposition will be seen as anathema by the powers that be while an image of a veiled woman or a bearded man used to illustrate a textbook will be seen as Islamist propaganda And, of course, the language used in class is equally an issue. It is out of the question to offer Kurdish or any other minority language, not even as an option. On the other hand, the Minister has started to bring Russian into secondary schools To what extent will Russian or Iranian advisers be taking part In its editions of last 23 January and 5 March the Syria Report refers to the development of relations with these two countries in the area of education Iran is said to have already opened many schools in Damascus the region administered by the Kurdish Democratic Forces is currently setting up a ‘national’ educational system which is repeating the defects of the Ba’ath system from the ideological standpoint Revolutionary political instruction and the cult of the personality of Abdullah Öçalan arouse the hostility of part of the region’s population only the final forms follow the Syrian curriculum Like the reconstruction of the country itself that of the school system is likely to take a long time and in fact may well be an impossible dream Far from reflecting a ‘healthier and more homogenous society’ (which the President claims to be in the offing the school system which Syria is preparing to build will long be confined to turning out a mass of unqualified workers for a totally deregulated market alongside a minority of poorly qualified college graduates reduced to silence and a tiny elite with no choice but to emigrate or wheel and deal in a borderless Even if a few experiments are still being carried out by activists or pedagogues concerned to form open-minded citizens one can only fear that their efforts will be nullified by a regime whose only goal is to maintain its rule whatever the cost 1EDITOR’S NOTE: The Islamist Rebel Coalition as well as factions of The Syrian Free Army 2Nabil Antaki 3It is amusing to read that the Minister of Education is worried about the development of private tutoring “which pushes students to dependency and a tendency towards memorisation” (sic) and tries to counter this “by airing educational lessons on the Educational Satellite Channel while others help us to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used Captain and Flight Commander Sidney Hall was the youngest son of Mr in his short life he has gained honour enough to share amongst them At Hillhead he was a contemporary of Steven Reith and a rival of his for distinction in mathematics and science.On leaving School he entered the office of Paterson & Benzie He was one of the first to answer the call for service he joined the Commercial Battalion as a private After a period of training with themhe received a commission in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1915.In December of the same year he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps where he soon proved himself to be a daring and fearless pilot On more than one occasion he received the congratulations of his commanding officer Only a few weeks ago news came that he had been awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry in action He was looking forward joyfully to his promised leave of absence at Christmas There is special pathos attached to the loss of this gallant officer cut off while his hard-won honours were still fresh upon him In conveying the sad intelligence to the parents his commanding officer wrote "Captain Hall was one of the best pilots I have ever known and was loved by all who came in contact with him He was my right-hand man since I have commanded the squadron It is always the best who go first and your son has gone He has given his life for King and country He will be mourned and missed in our mess to-night." your new go-to podcast to spice up your weekday mornings with relevant news and behind-the-scenes from Brussels and beyond From the economy to the climate and the EU's role in world affairs this talk show sheds light on European affairs and the issues that impact on our daily lives as Europeans Tune in to understand the ins and outs of European politics Dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries Deep dive conversations with business leaders Euronews Tech Talks goes beyond discussions to explore the impact of new technologies on our lives the podcast provides valuable insights into the intersection of technology and society Europe's water is under increasing pressure floods are taking their toll on our drinking water Join us on a journey around Europe to see why protecting ecosystems matters and to discover some of the best water solutions an animated explainer series and live debate - find out why Water Matters We give you the latest climate facts from the world’s leading source analyse the trends and explain how our planet is changing We meet the experts on the front line of climate change who explore new strategies to mitigate and adapt Suicide rates in French prisons are almost double the European average The latest data from the Council of Europe, in a report published in December 2015 shows that the rate in France was 12.4 suicides per 10,000 inmates in 2013 The median rate across the European Union was 5.4 suicides per 10,000 inmates Suicide is seven times more frequent among prisoners in France than in the general population, the French Institute for Demographic Studies found in 2014 ‘My brother was never a drug user – until he went to prison’ Rahma Zennati’s brother Morad died in 2010 after an overdose of psychotropic drugs had been serving a two-year sentence for marijuana possession at the Maubeuge prison in northern France He was just months away from being released his downward spiral started quickly when he went to jail “I went to see my brother in prison and I saw someone 1.9 metres tall I could tell there was a problem somewhere,” Rahma says Rahma explains that she was told by the prison that her brother “was a manipulator who cried all the time where Rahma found him on a respirator and having seizures “There’s a policeman and other people in the room,” Rahma says with tears in her eyes ‘You really think he’s going to try to escape?’” Rahma says Morad was not a heavy drug user before he went to jail She feels that the prison system let her brother down He “couldn’t bear incarceration,” Rahma explains “He never took benzodiazepines or anti-depressants at home.” It’s clear that the prison medical service gives out medication to make prisoners better withstand incarceration.” Rahma was shocked to find a “cocktail” of prescription drugs amongst his possessions when she went to collect his things “Is all that not enough to be fatal for a person?” Rahma and her family have launched legal proceedings against the prison and the hospital which they blame for failing to adequately protect Morad’s life We visit the Longuenesse prison in northern France for an insight into how drugs are dispensed Every inmate is seen by a psychiatrist when they arrive Those considered to be a suicide risk are given specific prescriptions every day They have to take their pills in front of a nurse For those inmates that require medication but are not considered a suicide risk bags of drugs are dispensed to last them three days But the pills may not stay in the same hands – as drugs are a major bargaining chip in prison Another risk is depressed inmates asking for more medication and then storing it up to overdose on later 2015 was a very worrying year for that at Longuenesse Psychiatric nurse Caroline Penet explains that the medical staff could have contributed to the problem Penet explains that the doctors kept on changing sometimes only staying for a couple of weeks who give out prescriptions more easily at the request of prisoners,” she says “If we could see the infirmary numbers of the time (2015) I think we would see that there was a greater influx (of inmates coming to the infirmary) Crumbling infrastructure, overcrowding & prescription drugs are blighting Europe's prisons https://t.co/jTpjgoluykpic.twitter.com/MQQqIhUac4 — Euronews Insiders (@euronewsinsidrs) April 20, 2016 opens up to us about his concerns regarding what he sees as the growing number of mentally vulnerable people behind bars “We didn’t use to see so many people like that mentally fragile and with certain types of crimes They used to be in psychiatric hospitals,” he says “But it costs more to put someone in a psychiatric hospital then to send them to prison And I believe there will be more and more (mentally ill people in prison).” Veteran psychiatrist Cyrille Canetti says the whole approach needs to change towards mental illness among people who break the law “it makes me think that France is not doing well,” Canetti opines without wanting to really see what is going on.” “I think especially for the mentally ill – the number of which in prison has been rising rapidly because mental patients are being excluded from society – they are being regarded more as dangerous people there is more of a tendency to send them to prison