UNI NOVA – Research Magazine of the University of Basel
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Focal areaFrom male provider to marriage for all.
Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / What exactly constitutes a family is mostly determined by society – with genetics and reproductive medicine also playing an increasingly prominent role. The legal system is hard pressed to keep up, and laws have to be regularly revised.
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Focal areaRole models in conflict situations.
Text: Pascale Hofmeier / Arguments and disputes are a part of everyday family life. They only really become a problem if they are chronically destructive – as Dr. Letizia Gauck and her colleagues observe on a daily basis at the Center for Developmental and Personality Psychology.
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Focal areaLoving fathers and education at home.
Text: Eva Mell / Two historians are studying the role of knowledge transmission and emotions in Basel families of the eighteenth century. Research has long overlooked the fact that the Enlightenment was focused not only on reason, but also on emotions.
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Focal areaLove and care until the very end.
Text: Angelika Jacobs / Most people who develop a chronic or degenerative disease are cared for intensively by a female partner or daughter. Medical ethicist Christopher Poppe interviewed family carers of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to find out more about their situation and needs.
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Focal areaBetween old norms and new aspirations
Text: Samanta Siegfried / These days, balancing family and work is an issue for mothers and fathers alike. The Center for Gender Studies is examining why we find it so difficult to break out of traditional roles.
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The male breadwinner remains the norm.
Text: Samuel Schlaefli / More women outearn their male partner than commonly thought. Survey respondents tend to underreport women’s income, while overreporting that of men. Two economists link this systematic misreporting to the male breadwinner norm.
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“How should I tell the family?”
Interview: Angelika Jacobs / Cancer sometimes runs in families and occurs as a result of a genetic predisposition. However, it can be challenging for those who have the genetic predisposition to tell their biological relatives that they might also be carriers of the same cancer gene. Professor Maria Katapodi researches ways of providing support in conveying information to family members.
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Focal areaCare and violence in animal families.
Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Parents looking after their young is a common feature of family life in many animal species. The goal of parental care is to ensure offspring survival. Yet, this often involves trickery and conflict, and sometimes even naked aggression.
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Interview“China’s party-state is deliberately trying to subvert the West.”
Interview: Urs Hafner / China is politically more communist than it was 20 years ago. The country is converging with authoritarian move ments in the West, says Professor Ralph Weber, a political scientist and philosopher.
