It Falls to Us: Linking The Waste Land to Dante’s Divine Comedy

Be it as a completed work or as individual sections, the ambiguity of T.S. Eliot’s most famous poem has always been the subject of scholarly debate. Though concrete conclusions are seldom reached in any of these discussions, the mere exchange of readers\u27 ideas is often the most rewarding aspect of the dialogue surrounding the poem. The presented paper attempts to join that conversation through an analysis of the fifth section of The Waste Land and how it may be related to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Through the interpretation of a number of allusions, I propose that there is a journey of sorts depicted in the final section of The Waste Land, and that this journey is rather similar to that seen in the first two thirds of Dante’s epic voyage through the afterlife. In exploring such a connection, new lines of interdisciplinary thought may be inspired in other members of the community, be it in a theological, philosophical, or perhaps even psychological sense. If nothing else, however, the proposed subject matter will draw attention to a potential narrative within the organized choas of The Waste Land

Organics Olympiad 2007 - Perspectives on the Global State of Organic Agriculture

Organic food has been described as the world’s fastest growing food sector, and many countries have now set targets for conversion to Organic Agriculture. The stated goal of the organic movement is the adoption worldwide of Organic Agriculture. That task has a long path to travel, with Organic Agriculture currently accounting for 1.8% of worldwide agricultural land. One strategy for success in any endeavour, is: find out who "the winners” are, identify what they are doing, and do that; and there is a corollary to this maxim. Which countries are leaders in the adoption of Organic Agriculture? In the absence of a single comprehensive index of organic-ness, this paper identifies 12 indices of organic-ness, and presents the leadership by country, for each of these indices. A portmanteau-index of overall organics leadership is examined. Based on longitudinal data, projections are presented for future Organic Agriculture scenarios, and they indicate that under the historic worldwide rates of organic uptake, then all agricultural land would be converted to organic within 27 years under the scenario of compound increase, and in 584 years under the scenario of arithmetic increase

[Review of] Michael P. Johnson and James P. Roark, eds. No Chariot Let Down: Charleston\u27s Free People of Color on the Eve of the Civil War

In an overgrown cemetery in the old village of Stateburg, South Carolina, a hundred miles north of Charleston lies the body of William Ellison (1790-1860), patriarch of a remarkable clan of free blacks whose achievements belie the myth of the Old South as a society of wealthy white masters and poor black slaves. Born a slave and perhaps the son of his master, Ellison early learned to make cotton gins and at age twentysix purchased his freedom and went into business in Stateburg. Riding the crest of the cotton boom, in 1835 he bought the handsome home of former governor Stephen D. Miller and by 1851 had also become a large cotton planter owning 800 acres of land and sixty-three slaves, more than any other free black except in Louisiana. He moved on an equal footing with white planters, eventually coming down from the colored balcony of Holy Cross Episcopal Church to sit with them

The people versus the commission: resistance to land registration in Fiji's early colonial history

This paper examines the struggle between indigenous communities and the Native Lands Commission in the registration of native land during Fiji's early colonial period. It argues that the Commission's ineffectiveness in getting land registered in the first 40 years of colonial rule was in large part due to the continuous efforts of indigenous communities to variously delay, undermine, frustrate, subvert, obstruct, and boycott this process. Had this long-running silent but deliberate boycott failed, most native land would have been registered and ready for alienation between 1905 and 1907 when Governor im Thurn's new land laws created a brief but significant moment for native land to be sold. The fact that this resistance movement did not propel any significant personalities onto the public stage suggests that "the people" - in their anonymous mass - are just as important as other agents in creating and shaping the course of history

Constructive waterfalls

The excavation of valleys by waterfalls is one of the best known and most effective processes by which rivers cut down the surface of the earth. The influence of waterfalls is usually regarded as solely destructive, and as always helping to lower the land. They undermine and cut backward the rock faces over which they fall : by this recession they excavate deep gorges ; and the existence of these gorges enables the adjacent country to be lowered to the level of the valIey floors. The waterfalls, moreover, empty any lakes they rnay reach in their retreat, while the ravines below the falls may drain the springs and thus desiccate the neighbouring hihlands. Observations in various countries had suggested to me that waterfalls may sometimes be constructive in stead of destructive, and that they may reserse their usual procedure, advancing instead of retreating, filling valleys instead of excavating them, and forrning alluvial plains and lakes instead of destroying them. The best illustrations I have seen of such advancing, constructive waterfalls are on some rivers of Dalmatia and Bosnia, where they occur in various stages of development. ..

Art Landforms A Study of How Designers are Using the Landscape

By examining the past and present forms of landscape designs, this report will establish a basis to understand one of the core elements of the Landscape Architecture profession. Using the land as a medium for expressing ones art and passions has been used for centuries. Fletcher Steele, Robert Smithson, Alan Sonfist, and George Hargreaves are all designers which have used land as a vital part for the creation of their designs and/or environmental art pieces. They all, in their own way, have been instrumental in how contemporary designers use and understanding of the land has changed and evolved over time. Through the analysis of visual elements of particular projects from each of these designers, this report will compare and contrast each of their approaches to design. It will also look at the philosophical underpinnings that these artists have about using the land and how they manifest in their designs. Although very different from traditional mediums, artists and landscape architects using the land are following the basic principles of design and visual elements that are part of any design

Defending a Nation: Synthesizing Geographic Information System Analysis and Ground Penetrating Radar to Locate Battlefield Features Associated with the 1780 Siege of Charleston

Common methods used to locate battlefield features have not been utilized extensively on the Charleston peninsula. This thesis explores methods used to locate battlefield features and their effectiveness on the Charleston peninsula. The methods were utilized in areas related to the Siege of Charleston in 1780 during the American Revolution. These methods include research into historic accounts of battlefield features, geographic information systems (GIS) to georeference historic maps of the Charleston peninsula, LiDAR to detect the topography of the land and locate any changes to the land over time, and finally ground penetrating radar (GPR) to locate any battlefield features. Through this study you will see that all these methods work together well to locate battlefield features. The final method, GPR, located the remains of the earthwork fortification in Wragg Square, the tabby hornwork in Marion Square, and the foundation of the Cistern Yard barracks on the College of Charleston campus. These combined methods located areas related to the Siege of Charleston that had not been mapped