Consciousness Raising and Reality Construction Within Oppressed Groups: Bridging the Gap Between Feminist Theory and Critical Race Theory

Human beings’ understanding of the world around them, and how they interpret events that occur within that world, are expressions of their culture, their worldview (of reality). Many authors have written about reality as a social construction, some times through contracts (in a state, for example, the Racial Contract). I propose that reality can be (and often is) constructed through culture (within a group). The deconstruction of the officially (state sanctioned) accepted reality, by members of oppressed groups, is the first step in gathering the tools to empower themselves. This is a process of consciously recognizing the unconscious behavior of the privileged group/class. The reconstruction of a more accurate account of reality and the ability of individuals to identify themselves as a group is essential to affirming the reality of their experience as truth. Some cultures (for example indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere) have existed before the state that was constructed. In such cases, rather than reconstructing and creating, the task at hand is often remembering and affirming the validity of the (indigenous pre-conquest) culture. The psychological research into the social construction of stereotypes, and prejudice, confirms that much of these thoughts originate on an unconscious (and as a result unexamined) level of thinking. The consciousness raising techniques can begin to bring to the conscious level many of the quick (snap) decisions that rest beneath and behind prejudice and stereotypical thinking. Drawing on the work of MacKinnon, Mills, Foucault, and Banaji to bridge the gap between feminist theory and critical race theory by recognizing overlapping layers of oppression. In particular the oppression within oppressed groups, by those with limited degrees of ‘micro-power’ oppressing others within oppressed groups with no power at all. As a Native/Chicano/Irish person growing up in various different rural and urban areas throughout America, I integrate my personal experience into the philosophical theories

Farcical Philology: Alexander Shewan\u27s Homeric Games at an Ancient St. Andrews

It is one of the many ironies of the term philology that what to the untrained ear may connote a dry and lifeless field of study was once the fightingest of fighting words; indeed, philology has been only recently retired as a field with an especial love for internecine warfare. Love of literature, it seems, could spawn loathing of fellow literature-lovers, and as philology grew as a discipline and even academic profession, the stakes were high. Any examination of metaphilology, then, must include a glance at philology\u27s discourses of error and detection, of correction and humiliation: philology- if dedicated to recovering a singular truth concerning texts--can be a zero-sum game. In the field of classical studies, questions of literary interpretation have necessarily been wedded to such texts\u27 often shadowy social contexts, and it is no coincidence that the most bitter battles have been fought where there is the least available evidence. The greater the evidential void, the greater the opportunity for hermeneutic ingenuity--and for equally pitched polemic

Effect of Thermal ageing on two selective paint coatings based on polysiloxane and polyurethane

Solar thermal collectors are a low cost and eco-friendly alternative for energy production. The essential component in the collector is the solar absorber since it is where the photo-thermal conversion occurs. One of the factors that change the absorber’s effectiveness is the type of coating used. In this dissertation, spectrally selective paint coatings are studied – PC2 based on silicone and PC3 based on polyurethane. The degradation of both paints when subjected to temperature accelerated ageing tests is studied. Tests were carried out at 320°C for 300 and 600 hours. The fixed vehicle of the paints was analysed by FTIR. The spectra of the composition of the paints before and after the ageing test were analysed by FTIR-ATR. In PC2 there was no change in the spectrum after ageing; however, in PC3 there was a change in the structure of the paint, which lost polymer after ageing. Thermogravimetric tests were carried out in an inert and oxidative atmosphere. In PC2 a low percentage of mass loss was identified while in PC3 the percentage of mass loss was more accentuated, thus verifying both FTIR-ATR results. To complete the analysis, the samples were analysed in a SEM/EDS. Finally, these results were compared with the optical properties of the paint, concluding that although the optical properties of both paints behave similarly after the ageing test, spectrally selective paints, depending on their composition, have distinct degradation behaviours when subjected to high temperatures.Os coletores solares térmicos são uma alternativa de baixo custo e amiga do ambiente para a produção de energia. O componente fundamental no coletor é o absorsor, visto que é neste que se realiza a conversão foto-térmica. Um dos fatores que modifica a eficácia do absorsor é o tipo de revestimento utilizado. Nesta dissertação são estudados revestimentos de tintas espectralmente seletivas – PC2 de base silicone e PC3 de base poliuretano. Na presente dissertação é estudada a degradação de ambas as tintas quando sujeitas a ensaios de envelhecimento acelerado por temperatura. Foram realizados ensaios a 320°C por 300 e 600 horas. O veículo fixo das tintas foi analisado por FTIR. Os espectros da composição das tintas antes e depois do ensaio de envelhecimento foram adquiridos em FTIR-ATR. No PC2 não se verificou alterações no espectro após envelhecimento; no entanto, no PC3 existiu uma alteração na estrutura da tinta tendo esta perdido polímero após o envelhecimento. Foram realizados ensaios de termogravimetria em atmosfera inerte e oxidativa. No PC2 foi identificada uma baixa confirmando os resultados obtidos em FTIR-ATR. Para completar a análise, as amostras foram analisadas por SEM/EDS. Por fim, estes resultados foram comparados com as propriedades óticas das tintas, concluindo que apesar das propriedades óticas de ambas as tintas terem um comportamento semelhante após o ensaio de envelhecimento, as tintas espectralmente selectivas, dependedo da sua composição, têm comportamentos de degradação distintos, quando sujeitas a temperaturas elevadas

Digital Annotation Project

Curatorial note from Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities: This sequence of interrelated assignments guides students to work individually and in groups to create a critical edition of a text for use by future classes of their peers. Students define key terms to be annotated, research topics in digitized eighteenth- and nineteenth-century periodicals, and add research-based annotations to the text using A.nnotate.com. Exposing students to primary research with digitized materials deepens the context for their understanding of the text. Asking students to participate in the process of annotating a text in a collaborative digital environment reveals the research and editorial decisions that lie behind any classroom text. This clearly structured assignment could be adapted for a wide variety of literary or historical texts or for use with other annotation tools

Leon Zienkowicz - wydawca

"Wśród dziewiętnastowiecznych wydawców tekstów literackich spotykamy niejednokrotnie osoby, które można by określić mianem „wydawców przygodnych”, tzn. podejmujących się, w różnym zresztą stopniu, działań edytorskich najczęściej z pobudek osobistych, a więc np. oddających w ten sposób przysługę przyjaciołom. I tak Adam Mickiewicz doglądał w 1833 roku wydania dwutomowej edycji Poezji śmiertelnie chorego Stefana Garczyńskiego, pilnując nawet ich korekty, co było jego szczególnym już poświęceniem, gdyż – jak wiadomo – była to czynność, której poeta nie znosił, powierzając innym poprawianie swych własnych publikacji." [...] (fragm.

Disputed Theory and Security Policy: Responding to the Rise of China

Much has been written on the security implications of the Rise of China, yet there is little consensus, posing a problem for policymakers. I highlight the areas of disagreement, arguing that the lack of consensus is a product of different theoretical positions. Since there is not an obviously correct theoretical position, policymakers must make decisions based on significant uncertainty. I argue that policymakers ought therefore reject costly and decontextualized theories, such as offensive realism, while still maintaining openness to theoretical knowledge