International Journal of Iberian Studies - Volume 21, Issue 1, 2008

Despite its obvious interest and potential for concern, empirical research on the cheating phenomenon among university students has almost exclusively been carried out in the United States, usually covering only a few universities in a given region. Little is known about cheating in European universities, let alone the Iberian Peninsula. In this article we aim to contribute towards filling this gap by presenting evidence of this illicit behaviour in Portugal and Spain. Based on a survey of undergraduate students on Economics and Management courses, we conclude that there is a pervasive culture of cheating in these two countries, reaching relatively high levels in universities. Using econometric techniques, which control for a wide set of variables likely to influence a student's propensity to cheat, we found that Spanish students are relatively more prone to breaching the academic code of conduct than their Portuguese counterparts, and that the implementation of Honour Codes by universities constitute a promising approach in curbing cheating in academia.

Iberian Studies pose a fascinating problem from the point of view of hermeneutics the study of theories of how to understand matters from another's point of view. Given its vocation of building bridges, Iberian Studies have to face the problem that pre-judices and the history of any academic discipline weigh heavily on such an undertaking. An uncontaminated, unprejudiced position is neither possible nor desirable. Together with a close examination of such pre-judices and their action of transmitting knowledge about otherness, this article offers a reflection around the possibility of Iberian Studies as a science of mediation.

Los estudios ibricos plantean un apasionante problema desde el punto de vista de la hermenutica el estudio de las teoras de como entender los asuntos desde el punto de vista del otro. Dada su vocacin de tender puentes, los estudios ibricos se enfrentan a la problemtica de que los pre-juicios y la historia de cualquier disciplina acadmica tienen un peso importante en esa tarea. La asepsia, la posicin no-contaminada, no slo es imposible, sino tambin indeseable. Junto a una descripcin detallada de la estructura de esos pre-juicios y de su accin en la transmisin de los conocimientos sobre una alteridad, el artculo ofrece tambin una reflexin en torno a las posibilidades para una ciencia de mediacin como son los estudios ibricos.

Spain has captured international attention with regards to equality for sexual minorities, recently approving laws that allow same-sex couples to marry under the same conditions as different-sex couples (Law 13/2005) and that allow transgender people to change their name in the register without having to go through compulsory surgery (Law 3/2007). Using intersectionality as a framework for my analysis, I explore the limitations of the notion of equality in both legal texts by adding an analysis that includes not only sexuality, but also gender, ethnicity, age, and class. Both laws aimed at satisfying the demands of social movements and were designed to overcome inequality and have a relevant symbolic impact. Despite this, it is argued, they were not framed to transform society in depth. Both laws are contributing to reproduce inequality by not taking into account multiple discriminations.

Comparing the beginnings of Spanish and French Social Historiography. This commentary examines the origins of Spanish and French social historiography showing how they had common features despite evolving at different rates and intensities, and embodying two different approaches to the labour world. The first approach was that of liberal professionals who examined the working class motivated by their concern for what was called the social question. The second, fundamental approach until well into the twentieth century was that of the militant authors in other words, authors who were linked to the labour movement itself. For a long time this militant legacy could be seen in a type of history that was marked by an epic view of events, whose interpretation contained strong political implications. The advent of the Spanish Civil War checked this evolution and had markedly different effects on the development of the two lines of labour history research in each country.

Spanish Cinema: A Student's Guide, Barry Jordan and Mark Allinson (2005) London: Hodder Arnold, 229 pp., ISBN 0-340-80745-8 (pbk), 17.99

Spain, Portugal and the Great Powers, 19311941, Glyn A. Stone (2005) Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, xv + 316 pp., ISBN 0-333-49560-8 (pbk), 19.99

Spanish Political Parties, David Hanley and John Loughlin (eds.) (2006) Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 179 pp., ISBN 0708319319 (pbk), 18.99; 0708318312 (hbk), 55.00

Television in Spain. From Franco to Almodvar, Paul Julian Smith (2006) Woodbridge: Tamesis, 176 pp., ISBN 1-85566-136-5 (hbk), 45

The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution and Revenge, Paul Preston (2006) London: Harper Perennial, 381 pp., ISBN 978-0-00-723207-9 (pbk), 8.99

Gunpowder and Incense: The Catholic Church and the Spanish Civil War, Hilari Raguer (2007), Translated from the Spanish by Gerald Howson London and New York: Routledge, 418 pp., ISBN 978-0-415-31889-1 (hbk), 70.00