This volume critically examines what happens when war formally ends, the difficult and complex challenges and opportunities for winning the peace and reconciling divided communities. By reviewing a case study of the West African state of Sierra Leone, potential lessons for other parts of the world can be gained. Sierra Leone has emerged as a 'successful' model of liberal peacebuilding that is now popularly advertised and promoted by the international community as a powerful example of a country that they finally got right. Concerns about how successful a model Sierra Leone actually is, are outlined in this project. As such this volume: -

'Ordinary theology' characterizes the reflective God-talk of the great majority of churchgoers, and others who remain largely untouched by the assumptions, concepts and arguments that academic theology takes for granted. Jeff Astley coined the phrase in his innovative study, Ordinary Theology: Looking, Listening and Learning in Theology, arguing that 'speaking statistically ordinary theology is the theology of God's Church'. A number of scholars have responded to this and related conceptualizations, exploring their theological implications. Other researchers have adopted the perspective in examining a range of Church practices and contexts of Christian discipleship, using the tools of empirical study. Ordinary theology research has proved to be key in uncovering people's everyday lay theology or ordinary dogmatics. Exploring Ordinary Theology presents fresh contributions from a wide range of authors, who address the theological, empirical and practical dimensions of this central feature of ordinary Christian existence and the life of the Church.

'Ordinary theology' characterizes the reflective God-talk of the great majority of churchgoers, and others who remain largely untouched by the assumptions, concepts and arguments that academic theology takes for granted. Jeff Astley coined the phrase in his innovative study, Ordinary Theology: Looking, Listening and Learning in Theology, arguing that 'speaking statistically ordinary theology is the theology of God's Church'. A number of scholars have responded to this and related conceptualizations, exploring their theological implications. Other researchers have adopted the perspective in examining a range of Church practices and contexts of Christian discipleship, using the tools of empirical study. Ordinary theology research has proved to be key in uncovering people's everyday lay theology or ordinary dogmatics. Exploring Ordinary Theology presents fresh contributions from a wide range of authors, who address the theological, empirical and practical dimensions of this central feature of ordinary Christian existence and the life of the Church.

This volume critically examines what happens when war formally ends, the difficult and complex challenges and opportunities for winning the peace and reconciling divided communities. By reviewing a case study of the West African state of Sierra Leone, potential lessons for other parts of the world can be gained. Sierra Leone has emerged as a 'successful' model of liberal peacebuilding that is now popularly advertised and promoted by the international community as a powerful example of a country that they finally got right. Concerns about how successful a model Sierra Leone actually is, are outlined in this project. As such this volume: -

The key issues facing rural life and the rural church today are worth serious thought, serious theological reflection, and serious empirical evidence. The twenty-eight articles drawn together for the first time in this reader illustrate the significant contribution made to these debates over the past decade by the journal Rural Theology. The articles concentrate on the themes of perspectives from the Bible, perspectives from ordinary theology, theological and sociological perspectives, historical perspectives listening to visitors, listening to the community, listening to churchgoers, listening to church leaders and satisfaction and stress in ministry. The authors include voices from the Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal Churches, from England, Scotland and Wales. Rural Life and Rural Church provides an invaluable resource for clergy and lay Christians involved in rural ministry initial and continuing ministerial education and formation Christian men and women living in the countryside.

This book outlines the construction, interpretations and understanding of US strategy towards Africa in the early twenty-first century. No single issue or event in the recent decades in Africa has provoked so much controversy and unified hostility and opposition as the announcement by former President George W. Bush of the establishment of the United Stated Africa Command - AFRICOM. The intensity and sheer scale of the unprecedented unity of opposition to AFRICOM across Africa surprised many experts and lead them to ask why such a hostile reaction occurred. This book explores the conception of AFRICOM and the subsequent reaction in two ways. Firstly, the contributors critically engage with the creation and global imperatives for the establishment of AFRICOM and present an analytical outline of African security in relation to and within the context of the history of US foreign and security policy approaches to Africa. Secondly, the book has original chapter contributions by some of the key actors involved in the development and implementation of the AFRICOM project including Theresa Whelan, the former US Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. This is not only an attempt to contribute to the academic and policy-relevant debates based on the views of those who are intimately involved in the design and implementation of the AFRICOM project but also to show, in their own words, that 'America has no clandestine agenda for Africa'. This book will be of interest to students of US foreign policy/national security, strategic studies, international security and African politics. David J. Francis is Chair of African Peace & Conflict Studies in the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford.

This book outlines the construction, interpretations and understanding of US strategy towards Africa in the early twenty-first century.

No single issue or event in the recent decades in Africa has provoked so much controversy and unified hostility and opposition as the announcement by former President George W. Bush of the establishment of the United Stated Africa Command - AFRICOM. The intensity and sheer scale of the unprecedented unity of opposition to AFRICOM across Africa surprised many experts and lead them to ask why such a hostile reaction occurred.

This book explores the conception of AFRICOM and the subsequent reaction in two ways. Firstly, the contributors critically engage with the creation and global imperatives for the establishment of AFRICOM and present an analytical outline of African security in relation to and within the context of the history of US foreign and security policy approaches to Africa. Secondly, the book has original chapter contributions by some of the key actors involved in the development and implementation of the AFRICOM project including Theresa Whelan, the former US Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. This is not only an attempt to contribute to the academic and policy-relevant debates based on the views of those who are intimately involved in the design and implementation of the AFRICOM project but also to show, in their own words, that 'America has no clandestine agenda for Africa'.

This book will be of interest to students of US foreign policy/national security, strategic studies, international security and African politics.

David J. Francis is Chair of African Peace & Conflict Studies in the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford.

The Values Debate: A Voice from the Pupils presents findings from a survey conducted among 30,000 13-15 year olds throughout England and Wales, giving particular attention to social, personal and moral issues. The analysis begins with an overview of what teenagers really think. What are their views on sex, family, AIDS and homosexuality? What stand do they take on tobacco, alcohol and drugs? What values do they hold on pollution, poverty and responsibility for the developing world? What value do they place on themselves and on their future lives? The analysis then examines the factors which shape these fundamental values. How do values differ between male and female teenagers? What difference does social class make? How important is the family? Does religion continue to play a part? Does private schooling shape a different set of values? How important is the experience of being bullied at school? This analysis needs to be taken seriously by politicians, teachers, youth leaders, social workers, doctors, clergy and parents, and by all who are professionally or personally concerned with young people.

This volume critically engages with the phenomenon of civil militias in Africa, especially the nature of threats and challenges they pose to national and human security. It questions why the African political scene is increasingly inundated with the activities of civil militias, examines the socio-political and economic conditions that trigger and/or encourage and sustain the operations of civil militias, and investigates the dominant motivations of African civil militias. In the face of this complex security emergency, the volume conceptualizes and theorizes the phenomenon of civil militias; focuses the academic debate and policy on the links between civil militias and the growing cycle of state failure, instability, collapse and fragmentation in Africa; broadly and critically explores and expounds the short-term security consequences of the operations of civil militias; and articulates a corpus of policy-relevant knowledge. The book is ideally suited to courses on African studies, security and peace studies and military studies but would also be of interest to practitioners.

The key issues facing rural life and the rural church today are worth serious thought, serious theological reflection, and serious empirical evidence. The twenty-eight articles drawn together for the first time in this reader illustrate the significant contribution made to these debates over the past decade by the journal Rural Theology. The articles concentrate on the themes of perspectives from the Bible, perspectives from ordinary theology, theological and sociological perspectives, historical perspectives listening to visitors, listening to the community, listening to churchgoers, listening to church leaders and satisfaction and stress in ministry. The authors include voices from the Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal Churches, from England, Scotland and Wales. Rural Life and Rural Church provides an invaluable resource for clergy and lay Christians involved in rural ministry initial and continuing ministerial education and formation Christian men and women living in the countryside.

Plagued by bloody wars and armed conflicts, political instability, communal violence and displaced persons, and at the mercy of natural catastrophes such as drought and famine, it is not surprising that the Western press has long dismissed Africa as the 'hopeless continent'. In the face of these challenges, Africa today is faced with a stark choice: either unite or perish. The debate on why and how the continent should unite in terms of co-operative peace, security and development is more urgent than at any other time in Africa's post-colonial history. Moving forward from the failure of the earlier, typically idealistic Africa unity project, David Francis demonstrates how peace and security challenges have created the imperative for change. He argues that a series of regional peace and security systems are emerging, and that states that have participated in practical experiments in regional peacekeeping, peace support operations, conflict stabilization/management and preventive diplomacy are building de facto systems of peace and security that could be institutionalized and extended.

This volume critically engages with the phenomenon of civil militias in Africa, especially the nature of threats and challenges they pose to national and human security. It questions why the African political scene is increasingly inundated with the activities of civil militias, examines the socio-political and economic conditions that trigger and/or encourage and sustain the operations of civil militias, and investigates the dominant motivations of African civil militias. In the face of this complex security emergency, the volume conceptualizes and theorizes the phenomenon of civil militias; focuses the academic debate and policy on the links between civil militias and the growing cycle of state failure, instability, collapse and fragmentation in Africa; broadly and critically explores and expounds the short-term security consequences of the operations of civil militias; and articulates a corpus of policy-relevant knowledge. The book is ideally suited to courses on African studies, security and peace studies and military studies but would also be of interest to practitioners.

During the past two decades, the Science of Congregation Studies has blossomed significantly in the UK, as well as within the USA and Australia. In this illuminating and thought-provoking volume, Leslie J. Francis' research group draws on the Signs of Growth Survey conducted throughout the Anglican Diocese of Southwark to illustrate how the strength of combined qualitative and quantitative research methods can draw on the insights of psychological theory, sociological theory, and empirical theology to illuminate pressing questions of relevance to the sociology of religion, psychology of religion, practical theology and pastoral studies. Individual chapters discuss the missing generation of young people, the greying generation aged seventy and over, how occasional churchgoers express belonging and commitment, connections between psychological type and religious motivation, and the distinctive characteristics of growing congregations.

This book brings together the most current thinking and research on educator stress and how education systems can support quality teachers and quality education. It adopts an occupational health perspective to examine the problem of educator stress and presents theory-driven intervention strategies to reduce stress load and support educator resilience and healthy school organizations. The book provides an international perspective on key challenges facing educators such as teacher stress, teacher retention, training effective teachers, teacher accountability, cyber-bullying in schools, and developing healthy school systems. Divided into four parts, the book starts out by introducing and defining the problem of educator stress internationally and examining educator stress in the context of school, education system, and education policy factors. Part I includes chapters on educator mental health and well-being, stress-related biological vulnerabilities, the relation of stress to teaching self-efficacy, turnover in charter schools, and the role of culture in educator stress. Part II reviews the main conceptual models that explain educator stress while applying an occupational health framework to education contexts which stresses the role of organizational factors, including work organization and work practices. It ends with a proposal of a dynamic integrative theory of educator stress, which highlights the changing nature of educator stress with time and context. Part III starts with the definition of what constitute healthy school organizations as a backdrop to the following chapters which review the application of occupational health psychology theories and intervention approaches to reducing educator stress, promoting teacher resources and developing healthy school systems. Chapters include interventions at the individual, individual-organizational interface and organizational levels. Part III ends with a chapter addressing cyber-bullying, a new challenge affecting schools and teachers. Part IV discusses the implications for research, practice and policy in education, including teacher training and development. In addition, it presents a review of methodological issues facing researchers on educator stress and identifies future trends for research on this topic, including the use of ecological momentary assessment in educator stress research. The editors' concluding comments reflect upon the application of an occupational health perspective to advance research, practice and policy directed at reducing stress in educators, and promoting teacher and school well-being.

In the past decade, cathedrals have blossomed as signs of growth for the Anglican Church in England and Wales. They have opened their doors to growing congregations, to widening participation at the major Christian festivals, and to visitors, pilgrims, and tourists on a changing quest for religious experience and for spiritual fulfilment. In this thought-provoking volume Leslie J. Francis' research group presents ten focused empirical studies that illuminate what is really going on in these cathedrals.

Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have emerged as an attractive means of implementing logic circuits, providing instant manufacturing turnaround and negligible prototype costs. They hold the promise of replacing much of the VLSI market now held by mask-programmed gate arrays. FPGAs offer an affordable solution for customized VLSI, over a wide variety of applications, and have also opened up new possibilities in designing reconfigurable digital systems. Field-Programmable Gate Arrays discusses the most important aspects of FPGAs in a textbook manner. It provides the reader with a focused view of the key issues, using a consistent notation and style of presentation. It provides detailed descriptions of commercially available FPGAs and an in-depth treatment of the FPGA architecture and CAD issues that are the subjects of current research. The material presented is of interest to a variety of readers, including those who are not familiar with FPGA technology, but wish to be introduced to it, as well as those who already have an understanding of FPGAs, but who are interested in learning about the research directions that are of current interest.

This volume presents the published proceedings of the lOth International Workshop on Statistical Modelling, to be held in Innsbruck, Austria from 10 to 14 July, 1995. This workshop marks an important anniversary. The inaugural workshop in this series also took place in Innsbruck in 1986, and brought together a small but enthusiastic group of thirty European statisticians interested in statistical modelling. The workshop arose out of two G LIM conferences in the U. K. in London (1982) and Lancaster (1985), and from a num ber of short courses organised by Murray Aitkin and held at Lancaster in the early 1980s, which attracted many European statisticians interested in Generalised Linear Modelling. The inaugural workshop in Innsbruck con centrated on GLMs and was characterised by a number of features - a friendly and supportive academic atmosphere, tutorial sessions and invited speakers presenting new developments in statistical modelling, and a very well organised social programme. The academic programme allowed plenty of time for presentation and for discussion, and made available copies of all papers beforehand. Over the intervening years, the workshop has grown substantially, and now regularly attracts over 150 participants. The scope of the workshop is now much broader, reflecting the growth in the subject of statistical modelling over ten years. The elements ofthe first workshop, however, are still present, and participants always find the meetings relevant and stimulating."

Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have emerged as an attractive means of implementing logic circuits, providing instant manufacturing turnaround and negligible prototype costs. They hold the promise of replacing much of the VLSI market now held by mask-programmed gate arrays. FPGAs offer an affordable solution for customized VLSI, over a wide variety of applications, and have also opened up new possibilities in designing reconfigurable digital systems. Field-Programmable Gate Arrays discusses the most important aspects of FPGAs in a textbook manner. It provides the reader with a focused view of the key issues, using a consistent notation and style of presentation. It provides detailed descriptions of commercially available FPGAs and an in-depth treatment of the FPGA architecture and CAD issues that are the subjects of current research. The material presented is of interest to a variety of readers, including those who are not familiar with FPGA technology, but wish to be introduced to it, as well as those who already have an understanding of FPGAs, but who are interested in learning about the research directions that are of current interest.

This volume constitutes the Proceedings of the joint meeting of GLIM89 and the 4th International Workshop on statistical Modelling, held in Trento, Italy, from 17 to 21 July 1989. The meeting aimed to bring together researchers interested in the development and application of generalized linear modelling in GLIM and those interested in statistical modelling in its widest sense. This joint meeting built upon the success of previous workshops held in Innsbruck, perugia and Vienna, and upon the two previous GLIM conferences , GLIM82 and GLIM85. The Proceedings of the latter two being available as numbers 14 and 32 in the springer Verlag series of Lecture Notes in Statistics). Much statistical modelling is carried out using GLIM, as is apparent from many of the papers in these Proceedings; however, the Programme Committee were also keen on encouraging papers which discussed more general modelling techniques. Thus about a third of the papers in this volume are outside the GLIM framework. The Programme Committee specifically requested non-theoretical papers in addition to considering theoretical contributions. Thus there are papers in a wide range of practical areas, such as radio spectral occupancy, comparison of birthweights, intervals between births, accidents of railway workers, genetics, demography, medical trials, the social sciences and insurance. A wide range of theoretical developments are discussed, for example, overdispersion, non-exponential family modelling, novel approaches to analysing contingency tables, random effects models, Kalman Filtering, model checking and extensions of Wedderburn's theoretical underpinning of GLMs.

During the past two decades, the Science of Congregation Studies has blossomed significantly in the UK, as well as within the USA and Australia. In this illuminating and thought-provoking volume, Leslie J. Francis' research group draws on the Signs of Growth Survey conducted throughout the Anglican Diocese of Southwark to illustrate how the strength of combined qualitative and quantitative research methods can draw on the insights of psychological theory, sociological theory, and empirical theology to illuminate pressing questions of relevance to the sociology of religion, psychology of religion, practical theology and pastoral studies. Individual chapters discuss the missing generation of young people, the greying generation aged seventy and over, how occasional churchgoers express belonging and commitment, connections between psychological type and religious motivation, and the distinctive characteristics of growing congregations.

This is a practical guide to preaching, grounded in the innovative and original theory of the SIFT method, written by two practical theologians who preach Sunday by Sunday.This is a practical book about preaching, written for preachers by two practical theologians who themselves preach Sunday by Sunday. It is a practical book because it is grounded in an innovative and highly original theory about the nature of preaching known as the SIFT method. This theory draws together the best of contemporary scholarship about hermeneutics with compelling insights from modern research concerning psychological type.After presenting the theory, Leslie J Francis and Andrew Village provide concrete examples of the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching. This approach releases the gospel message to be proclaimed and to be heard in a full and rounded manner that touches all of the human mind and soul.Part 1 - Preaching and Hermeneutics includes: Preaching and meaning; Preachers as readers; Perception and evaluation in reading; Reading the Bible; and, Reading the Spirit; Reading the context. Part 2 - Preaching and Psychological Type includes: Theology and individual differences; Models of personality; Understanding psychological type; Psychological type and faith; Psychological type and reading the Bible; and, Psychological type and preaching.

This book provides an unbiased and evidence-based guide to the potential role of interventional pulmonology as an alternative to thoracic surgery. Interventional pulmonology is a new and quickly growing sub-specialty in pulmonary medicine and increasingly more pulmonologists are turning to interventional therapies over the more costly and invasive surgical options. The text thoroughly presents detailed coverage of and diagnostic methods for many diseases and conditions that pulmonologists encounter daily, including: diffuse lung infiltrates, solitary lung nodule, undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion, pneumothorax, hemoptysis, and airway foreign body. Experts then detail treatment options, from both a surgical and interventional perspective, with guidance on: when each procedure is most appropriate, what can be performed by a pulmonologist (with guidelines on how those procedures are done) versus what needs to be referred to a thoracic surgeon or an intervention pulmonologist, and the benefits and disadvantages involved with each option. This is an ideal guide for pulmonologists, trainees, and students to better understand the full scope of possible treatment options for their patients and to make the best informed decision about patient care.