Fighting a Resurgent Hyper-Positivism in Education is Music to My Ears

In this article, I argue that one of the gifts of the Age of Enlightenment, the ability to measure, to experiment, to predict—turned rancid by hyper-positivism—is re-asserting itself globally in the field of education (including music education). I see a neoliberal, neocolonial connection—in terms of the ideologies that fuel them—between some of the homogenizing, epistemologically/culturally imperialist aspects of globalization and this resurgent hyper-positivism that has been accompanied by a corporatization of education. I posit that critical education, including critical music education, is an essential component of a necessary—if rancorous—dialogue in maintaining a definition of education that is as varied and diverse as those students we wish to educate. In essence, I argue that critical education is one of many tools to help us fight a ‘re-colonization’ by this resurgent hyper-positivism in education

Abolish Copaganda!: An ACAB Analysis of \u3ci\u3eSisters\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eThe Wicker Man\u3c/i\u3e and the Ramifications of Abolitionist Spectatorship

After the 2020 Twin Cities Uprising, the term “ACAB” (All Cops Are Bastards) surged in popularity though it has been in circulation for nearly a century. Applying an ACAB lens to films suggests an intentional approach to spectatorship by integrating a critical consciousness about the systemic racism that the police embody. Portrayals of police are an omnipresent occurrence in media of all kinds and often function to cultivate trust in their authority. Brian DePalma’s 1973 slasher Sisters and Robin Hardy’s 1973 cult classic The Wicker Man exhibit notable anti-police sentiment that may feel unexpectedly radical for a pre-Uprising world. Using a framework grounded in cultivation theory, discourse analysis, and abolitionist ideologies, I analyze these two 70s horror films to determine what has and has not changed in police terror and anti-police discourse in the US, almost 50 years later. This project interrogates how anti-police messaging can affect spectators’ beliefs and may help to build a world that is free of police and other white supremacist institutions. Film can generate communities that are aligned through both spectatorship and antiracist values and can be used as a tool to achieve an abolitionist future

Spartan Daily, June 7, 1937

Volume 25, Issue 150https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/2634/thumbnail.jp

“This is an acknowledgement that we are acting, for what else can we do in such a setup?”: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale in light of Goffman’s Dramaturgy

This dissertation analyzes Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel set in a theocratic patriarchal society which employs an omnipresent and dissimulated surveillance of its citizens, through the Dramaturgical theory of social interaction formulated by the Canadian-American sociologist Erving Goffman, as presented in his work The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. By exploring how the dystopian dictatorial regime of Gilead forces its citizens into submitting to a role imposed by those in power, it stands out that most individuals will perform their assigned role only as faithfully as the powerful audience they are in front of at that specific moment requires it to be. Most characters are cynical about their public performances and try to covertly go against what is expected of them by whatever means they can, avoiding being caught subverting those expectations and suffering the consequences their disobedience would bring. The most effective form of defiance proves to be enacted through “team-performances”, a term devised by Goffman which designates the cooperation between two or more people invested in keeping a performance common to all involved, particularly when that performance has some sort of secret that must be kept from general knowledge. It is by apparently adapting herself to what Gilead expects of her and rebelling silently that Offred, the protagonist, manages to survive and escape her oppressors, unlike other characters who openly revolt against the regime, proving how important it is to perform a role convincingly any society.Esta dissertação analisa a obra The Handmaid’s Tale, de Margaret Atwood, através da teoria da Dramaturgia estabelecida pelo sociólogo Canadiano-Americano Erving Goffman na sua obra The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, tendo em conta que este romance tem como plano de fundo uma sociedade teocrática patriarcal que põe em ação uma vigilância omnipresente e dissimulada dos seus cidadãos. Ao explorar a forma como a ditadura distópica de Gilead força os seus cidadãos a submeterem-se a um papel social imposto por aqueles que detêm o poder, é possível concluir que a maioria dos indivíduos representa e leva a cabo o papel social que lhe foi atribuido apenas tão fielmente quanto é esperado pelos espectadores em frente dos quais se encontra num determinado momento. A maioria das personagens representa o seu papel social de forma cínica quando está em público e, secretamente, tenta subverter o que o regime espera dele de forma dissimulada, evitando sofrer as consequências que a sua desobediência traria. A forma mais eficaz de oposição é posta em prática através de “team-performances”, um termo formulado por Goffman para designar a cooperação entre duas ou mais pessoas que partilham uma representação, principalmente se essa representação tem por base um segredo que não deve ser de conhecimento geral, apenas partilhado por quem a constitui. Em vez de seguir o exemplo de outras personagens que mostram de forma aberta a sua oposição contra Gilead, a protagonista, Offred, consegue sobreviver e escapar ao adaptar-se, pelo menos aparentemente, ao que a sociedade espera dela e ao rebelar-se apenas de forma silenciosa, provando o quão importante é representar um papel social de forma convicente em qualquer sociedade

The Grizzly, March 24, 2016

Library Reveals Swank Database • Professors Find New Forms of Teaching • Presidential Election: How is Ursinus Involved? • Challenges of Studying Abroad: Work vs. Studying • U-Imagine Center to Host Symposium on Careers in Art • Slice of History: The Story of Marzella\u27s and its Close Relationship with Ursinus College • An Honorable Mention • CAB Rolling Out New Events • Opinions: It\u27s Always Sunny in Philly, But it\u27s Too Far Away; Scoop on Classroom Conflict • Four Gymnasts Earn All-American Honors • Making a Splashhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1686/thumbnail.jp

The Proceedings of the International Civil Aviation English Association (2018) Conference

The 2018 International Civil Aviation English Association (ICAEA)1 hosted its annual conference at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University2 in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. The conference, entitled “Building on the ICAO LPRs– Communication as a Human Factor: New Perspectives on Aviation English Training and Testing,” explored issues beyond the ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs) including: incorporating communication strategies into best practices for training and testing, the effect of language and culture on communication as a human factor, considerations for future policy developments in language and communication. The event featured plenary presentations, Q&A panels, interactive panel presentations, practical workshops, and poster sessions. With more than 120 participants from 35+ countries, this was one of ICAEA’s most internationally-attended recent events. Attendees included representatives from airlines, flight training organizations (FTOs), air navigation service providers (ANSPs), civil aviation authorities (CAAs), universities, and training and testing providers from all over the world. These proceedings feature seven articles written by eight of the conference’s presenters, summarizing their practical experiences and research findings which were shared at the conference. This publication is recommended to anyone interested in aeronautical communication

Winter in Bavaria

"A Winter In Bavaria" was written on location in Regensburg, Germany, and is the first-hand account of a cataclysm, already predicted by Nostradamus, which changed the direction of Bavarian culture forever. Anything vaguely resembling an allusion to any real person or institution is entirely coincidental, has no foundation in fact and is clearly the product of a mind estranged - except that Bavarian beer is, by and large, still to be highly recommended