Don’t touch! hands off! art, blindness and the conservation of expertise

The embargo on touching in museums is increasingly being brought into question, not least by blind activists who are calling for greater access to collections. The provision of opportunities to touch could be read as a potential conflict between established optic knowledge and illicit haptic experience, between the conservation of objects and access to collections. Instead I suggest that touch is not necessarily other to the museum; rather, the status of who does the touching and knowing is crucial and not the use of touch per se. It is expert territory and vested academic interests that are at stake here. Using Bruno Latour’s (1993) conceptions of hybrid networks and purified zones of academic practice, I then explore what the unacknowledged existence of touch means for museums and for notions of authority more generally. I suggest that if the apparent boundaries of disciplines are unconvincing in practice, then the possibility of expert knowledge is seriously undermined. Blind people’s demand for access through touch is not then a challenge of one paradigm to another but implicitly questions the accreditation of authority itself. As such it forms part of a wider institutional shift with regard to expertise and an increased need for negotiating between different conceptual frameworks. The ocularcentric bias of museums is increasingly being questioned by blind and visually impaired visitors who emphasize touch as a learning and aesthetic experience. This challenge is contentious not least because it ostensibly brings the individuals’ rights of access into direct conflict with museum conservation. I argue that concerns over conservation can, however, mask and serve to legitimate preconceptions about who should have access to collections; what counts as damage or dirt; and the means by which art and artefacts can be understood or enjoyed. It is expertise rather than the conservation of objects which is at stake. This article suggests that in campaigning for access through touch, blind people physically move beyond the barriers which reserve contact for the museum elite and simultaneously establish the viability of learning in a way that is not sanctioned by the art historical community. Thus resistance to touch in museums is not so much a concern for preservation as a defence of territory and expertise

How Do Scientists Cross Cultural Borders between Religion and Science: A Case Study

The cultures of science and religion have had different levels of conflict throughout the past several hundred years due in part to the development of the theory of evolution. Although many ideas abound in science education as to the alleviation of this struggle, few studies have examined how scientists who profess religious beliefs deal with this conflict. In general, the study sought to understand the cognitive dynamic of the cultural interaction between the scientific and religious culture within a few individuals. Specifically, the study allowed scientists to explain how they found a measure of compatibility between their faith and their scientific endeavors. Within the boundaries of both the general and specific purposes for the study, the following research question was used: How do college science professors describe the interaction between their faith and their scientific knowledge in reference to their transitioning between a naturalistic or scientific understanding and a super-naturalistic or religious understanding? Three theoretical lenses were used as backdrop to view the cultural interaction. World View (Kearney, 1984), Collateral Learning Theory (Jegede, 1995), and Faith Perspective in relation to the Stages of Faith Theory (Fowler, 1981) constituted the theoretical framework. Because of the qualitative nature of the research, the author used a modified naturalistic paradigm that stressed an emergent quality, grounded categorical design, and a modified case study written format that aided in the understanding of data generated through multiple qualitative methods. Three overlapping themes emerged within the data that offer new insights not only into the complex nature of the conflict but also into the ways scientists themselves find a reason to have faith as well as scientific knowledge. Boundaries based upon a philosophical and world view difference, conflict due to culturally integrative ideas, and cultural bridges without distortion made up the overlapping thematic ideas that were consistently demonstrated by each participant. The insights demonstrated by this study may also enlighten the science education community to the importance of both culture and belief in reference to a meaningful learning experience in science

The Fiddlers of James Bay: Transatlantic Flows and Musical Indigenization among the James Bay Cree

Fiddle music and dancing have formed a major component of the social lives of the Algonquian First Nations Cree population living in the James Bay region of Ontario and Québec since the instrument and its associated repertoire were introduced to the region by British (and most notably Scottish) employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company who travelled across the Atlantic on ships from the late 17th to the 20th century. Based on archival research and ongoing fieldwork in the region since 2011, this article aims to explore this transatlantic musical migration from the British Isles to James Bay and the reshaping of Scottish fiddle music and dance through indigenization and incorporation into the Cree cultural milieu. By examining this area of cultural flow, the article seeks to engage with current themes in ethnomusicology on the subject and add to the growing body of knowledge surrounding them.La danse et le violon ont constitué une composante majeure de la vie sociale de la population algonquienne de la Première nation cri vivant dans la région de la baie James, en Ontario et au Québec, puisque cet instrument et le répertoire qui lui était associé furent introduits dans la région par les employés britanniques (et plus particulièrement écossais) de la Compagnie de la Baie d’Hudson, qui ont traversé l’Atlantique à partir de la fin du 17e siècle jusqu’au 20e siècle. Cet article, qui se fonde sur une recherche en archives et un travail de terrain continu dans la région depuis 2011, cherche à explorer cette migration musicale transatlantique depuis les îles britanniques jusqu’à la baie James, ainsi que le remodelage et la reconstitution de la musique au violon et de la danse écossaise par le biais de leur indigénisation dans le milieu culturel cri. En examinant ce domaine de flux culturel, cet article vise à s’engager dans les thèmes actuels de l’ethnomusicologie à ce sujet et à contribuer au corps de connaissance grandissant qui les entoure

Traum im Film und in der Literatur : eine Bibliographie

Inhalt: Filmbezogene Arbeiten Literaturbezogene Arbeiten In den zweiten Teil des vorliegenden Verzeichnisses ist eine thematische Liste von Manfred Engel eingegangen (http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/EUROL/kongresse/dream/dreamwelcome.htm). Ich danke Manfred Engel nicht nur für die Genehmigung, seine Liste verwenden zu dürfen, sondern auch für eine Fülle weiterer Hinweise. Dank an Bernard Dieterle und Ludger Kaczmarek

Barnes Hospital Bulletin

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/bjc_barnes_bulletin/1275/thumbnail.jp

The Prevalence of Delinquency in Depressed and Substance Abusing Adolescent Girls

Research conducted on the role of depression in delinquency among adolescent girls has found that depression can predict delinquency. It has been indicated that research should be conducted on how substance use and abuse play a role in depression and delinquency. Several studies have been conducted on adolescent girls in juvenile delinquent centres and institutions. Few studies have sampled subjects from community-based resources, i.e., street youth clinics, youth programs, or alternative schools. The central goal of the study was to explore delinquency in a group of depressed and substance-abusing adolescent girls in community-based settings including street clinics, youth programs, and alternative schools. Specific questions focused on examining the relationship among depression, delinquency, and substance use for adolescent girls, and the prevalence of 12 risk factors (i.e., thought problems, ADHD, rule behaviours, anxiety, aggression, attitude problems, externalized behaviours, self-esteem, social problems, and somatic complaints). Using a cross-sectional research design, the relationship among depression, substance use, and delinquency, as well as risk factors were examined for adolescent girls from community-based agencies and alternative schools. The participants included 100 adolescent girls, aged 13 to 18 years (mean age = 16.5 years). The data collection instruments that were used included the Children\u27s Depression Inventory (CDI) (Kovacs, 1992), the Achenbach Youth Self-Report (YSR) for Ages 11-18 (ASEBA) (Achenbach, 2001), Adaptation of the Self-Reported Delinquency and Drug-Use Items as Employed in the National Youth Survey (Elliott & Ageton, 1980), and an Adolescent Self-Report Questionnaire. The study found that adolescent girls utilizing community-based street clinics and alternative schools are diverse, varying in age, culture, sexual orientation, background, and living arrangement. Substance use and delinquency were found to have a strong, significant, positive relationship. Depression played a smaller role in the prevalence of delinquency with this sample. In addition, various risk factors were found to be related to substance abuse (as a predictor for delinquency), including rule behavior, self-esteem, somatic complaints, and externalized problems. The strong relationships among substance abuse, delinquency, and risk factors have implications for prevention and treatment programs, supporting the inclusion of evidenced-based drug and alcohol programs that focus on positive coping strategies for problem solving and emotional regulation for at-risk adolescent girls

Spartan Daily, March 20, 1961

Volume 48, Issue 88https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/4142/thumbnail.jp

IMSA360: Winter 2011

In this issue of IMSA360, which doubles as the IMSA Fund for Advancement of Education’s 2011 annual report, we chronicle a journey none of us wanted but many of us now embrace. The tentacles of our ALS story and attention to “orphan diseases” stretch far and wide, supported by our donors, driven by our students, staff and community partners, and inspired by our Principal and Vice President for Academic Programs Dr. Eric McLaren. His story – our story – calls us to advance the human condition through education, research, advocacy and action. While we cannot dial back the clock and undo Dr. McLaren’s diagnosis, we can, we must and we will continue to live and work in accordance with the IMSA Board of Trustees’ original philosophy statement, authored by Dr. Leon Lederman a quarter of a century ago, and in doing so we will extend our Principal’s legacy: “If we do what we know and feel is right, it is bound to happen that among our graduates there will numbered scientists, engineers, and those who go on to earn degrees in law and letters. There are likely to be those few who create new intellectual worlds, cure a dreaded human ailment or in some other way significantly influence life on our planet. Our philosophy will be to treat our charges as if each one is capable of this extraordinary achievement.” Excerpt: From the Presiden