Revolution or Evolution: The Development of the Concern for the Preservation of Information Uncovered during Archaeological Excavations in Israel and Palestine (1890-1980)

The ICCROM conference of 1983 in Nicosia represents a turning point in the profession of archaeological conservation; here it was expressed that conservators no longer were concerned only with the preservation of excavated objects, but also with archaeological information. This study of the development of concern for the preservation of information from archaeological excavations in Palestine traces the discipline from Flinders Petrie’s first stratigraphic excavation in the region at the end of the nineteenth century to the heyday of American processual archaeology. Special attention is paid to the development of professionalism in the discipline, as made evident by the archaeologists’ efforts to remain at the cutting edge of their field, publish efficiently, and preserve the material they uncovered. It will be shown that interestingly, despite only excavating for six weeks, Petrie’s ideals in 1890 were closer to those of the 1983 conference than most his successors. The study is a response to those who have claimed that archaeology did not truly begin in the region until the 1950s and that the work done prior to this time is irrelevant for study. It is intended as a reminder of the need for professional humility and of the degree of continuity present in all intellectual disciplines that so easily is forgotten

Einstein's Boxes

At the 1927 Solvay conference, Einstein presented a thought experiment intended to demonstrate the incompleteness of the quantum mechanical description of reality. In the following years, the thought experiment was picked up and modified by Einstein, de Broglie, and several other commentators into a simple scenario involving the splitting in half of the wave function of a single particle in a box. In this paper we collect together several formulations of this thought experiment from the existing literature; analyze and assess it from the point of view of the Einstein-Bohr debates, the EPR dilemma, and Bell's theorem; and generally lobby for Einstein's Boxes taking its rightful place alongside similar but historically better-known quantum mechanical thought experiments such as EPR and Schroedinger's Cat.Comment: Published versio

VICARIOUS VILLAINY: A CRITICAL LITERARY ANALYSIS OF SYMPATHETIC VILLAINY IN AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE

A disproportionate amount of research into musical theatre focuses on the positive and accessible nature of the books and librettos. Very little, if any, research into musical theatre explores its darker side, specifically the considerable amount of villainy (i.e., traditionally immoral and/or criminal behavior) practiced by some of its protagonists. Moreover, it is important to note that several of the most popular musicals contain villainous characters, and that many of these characters are highly popular and even sympathetic (i.e., understandable, pitiable, and deserving of compassion) to audiences. Therefore, this thesis explores sympathetic villainous personalities in popular American musicals, focusing on the defining characteristics of the sympathetic villainy presented within specific musical works. Specifically, this thesis examines a variety of American musical theatre pieces, chronologically, from Show Boat (1927) to Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz (2003) which have strong sympathetic villainous characters. This thesis primarily addresses musical theatre villainy primarily from a critical literary analysis standpoint

Washington University Magazine, Summer 2003

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/ad_wumag/1163/thumbnail.jp

A History of the Royal (Toronto) Conservatory of Music Piano Examinations, 1887-2015: Their Impact and Influence

Since its inception in 1887, the Royal Conservatory of Music has maintained its position as one of the largest and oldest community-based music schools and education centres in North America, with an integrated examination body and a comprehensive graded curriculum, influencing and shaping the Canadian musical landscape. For the past 130 years, the Conservatory has presented a wide-ranging art music repertoire for studying piano and offered a comprehensive system for assessing students progress through its Examinations, recently retitled as The Certificate Program. The Conservatorys internal examinations began in 1887, with the external examinations following in 1898. The latter preserved the format of the former and expanded through increasing the number of the examination centres across Canada for both financial and educational reasons. Despite varying opinions of professionals and amateurs on the efficacy and value of the piano examinations in particular from the beginning, this dissertation, using historical sources and interviews, argues that over the years the structure and content of the piano examinations, while innately conservative on the whole, have kept up with a changing demographic of students across the country, and either countered or taken on the many criticisms that surrounded them over the years despite geographical and financial challenges, and indeed competition from other institutions. Recently they have been hardy enough to enter the American market. Overall, the Conservatorys examination system has created a cultural asset ideal for a country such as Canada, providing, promoting, and disseminating both the branded curriculum and controlled assessment, which contributed to the development and improvement of music education rapidly and effectively. A distinctive part of the dissertation in addition to its detailed history is the interviews with current examiners and teachers, who face a whole new set of challenges and uncharted waters as technology offers new approaches to teaching and evaluation. In this ethnographic approach, their voices add a whole new dimension to the historical survey of the examinations system, arguing that despiteor perhaps because ofthe weight of tradition they still have much to offer

Ross Webb Papers - Accession 1135

This collection consists of papers from Dr. Ross A. Webb (1923-2003), Historian Emeritus from Winthrop University. Significant research includes the history of Winthrop College, genealogy of Benjamin Helm Bristow, Webb’s history class notes, and preliminary drafts of his book The Torch is Passed. The files contain documents, commentary, correspondence, and articles describing the founding of Winthrop, its move from Columbia to Rock Hill, Founders Day, its coat of arms, an annual chronology of growth, the presidents, traditions, student life, campus activities, course curriculum, Board of Trustees records, administration & faculty, distinguished alumni, library services, athletics, organizations, publications, introduction of coeducation, legislative issues, statistical analysis, history lectures, family genealogy, civic engagement, newspaper articles, and drafts of Ross Webb’s books.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/2477/thumbnail.jp