1,928 research outputs found

    Separately, Connectedly: Exploring Trauma Through Ekphrasis in Contemporary Novels

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    This thesis examines ekphrasis as a rhetorical tool to explore, represent, and contemplate trauma affect in contemporary novels. From the Greek phrase for ‘description,’ ekphrasis is part of a long and ancient literary tradition, dating as far back as the ancient depictions of art on urns, weaponry, as well as more disambiguated descriptions of scenes and people. The uses of ekphrasis as a literary device are broad and complex, but its use is under-researched in contemporary novels, and there is a near total absence of investigation into ekphrasis within the novel as a means of contemplating and understanding the affect of a condition that is inherently abstract and disorienting.Literary trauma theory has evolved considerably in recent years. In keeping with important findings in psychology and psychiatric research, there is a broad recognition that rethinking trauma representation beyond the recitation and reliving of events and into textured descriptions of trauma affect is essential for thoughtful, nuanced explorations of an experience that resists narrative convenience. As a result, there are increased calls to accept and represent its inherent fractured nature and resist the authorial temptation to forge a story around it that fits neatly into a cohesive whole. This thesis proposes a framework for considering how various aspects of ekphrastic descriptions of real and imagined art as well as their connotative and denotative significance in the novel reveals nuance in the representation of trauma affect through the activation of language and image. The contemporary novels explored herein are: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt, and How to Be Both by Ali Smith. Each of these novels present ekphrasis and affect differently, which enables broader testing of the flexibility of the proposed framework

    Ypsilanti Histories: A Look Back at the Last Fifty Years

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    In commemoration of their city\u27s bicentennial, the people of Ypsilanti look back on the dramatic changes that the last fifty years brought to this small town in southeastern Michigan. Drawing on archival research, published sources, and personal recollections, Ypsilanti Histories explores the government, educational institutions, businesses, community organizations, neighborhoods, and individuals that have defined Ypsilanti since 1973. As befits the rich diversity of the community, Ypsilanti Histories captures a range of experiences. It explores the controversies that have rocked the city from the university mascot to school consolidation, while also celebrating the city\u27s oldest African American civic organization and the pioneering Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation. Beloved businesses like the Ypsilanti Food Coop and the Ypsilanti Thrift Shop are profiled here as are some of the city\u27s greatest heroes including a Medal of Honor recipient. The effects of deindustrialization are documented as are the challenges that this brought to Michigan Avenue, Depot Town, and various neighborhoods. Education has long been central to Ypsilanti\u27s history, and Ypsilanti Histories examines changes at the city\u27s high school and Eastern Michigan University. The authors of Ypsilanti Histories are amateur and professional historians who call Ypsilanti home. Many personally witnessed the events they describe, and some played a key role in the histories they tell. Ypsilanti Histories: A Look Back at the Last Fifty Years is edited by John McCurdy, Bill Nickels, Evan Milan, and Sarah Zawacki.https://commons.emich.edu/books/1011/thumbnail.jp

    Ethnographies of Collaborative Economies across Europe: Understanding Sharing and Caring

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    "Sharing economy" and "collaborative economy" refer to a proliferation of initiatives, business models, digital platforms and forms of work that characterise contemporary life: from community-led initiatives and activist campaigns, to the impact of global sharing platforms in contexts such as network hospitality, transportation, etc. Sharing the common lens of ethnographic methods, this book presents in-depth examinations of collaborative economy phenomena. The book combines qualitative research and ethnographic methodology with a range of different collaborative economy case studies and topics across Europe. It uniquely offers a truly interdisciplinary approach. It emerges from a unique, long-term, multinational, cross-European collaboration between researchers from various disciplines (e.g., sociology, anthropology, geography, business studies, law, computing, information systems), career stages, and epistemological backgrounds, brought together by a shared research interest in the collaborative economy. This book is a further contribution to the in-depth qualitative understanding of the complexities of the collaborative economy phenomenon. These rich accounts contribute to the painting of a complex landscape that spans several countries and regions, and diverse political, cultural, and organisational backdrops. This book also offers important reflections on the role of ethnographic researchers, and on their stance and outlook, that are of paramount interest across the disciplines involved in collaborative economy research

    Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management

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    This book is a reprint of the Special Issue 'Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management' that was published in the journal Buildings

    Next Generation Business Ecosystems: Engineering Decentralized Markets, Self-Sovereign Identities and Tokenization

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    Digital transformation research increasingly shifts from studying information systems within organizations towards adopting an ecosystem perspective, where multiple actors co-create value. While digital platforms have become a ubiquitous phenomenon in consumer-facing industries, organizations remain cautious about fully embracing the ecosystem concept and sharing data with external partners. Concerns about the market power of platform orchestrators and ongoing discussions on privacy, individual empowerment, and digital sovereignty further complicate the widespread adoption of business ecosystems, particularly in the European Union. In this context, technological innovations in Web3, including blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, have emerged as potential catalysts for disrupting centralized gatekeepers and enabling a strategic shift towards user-centric, privacy-oriented next-generation business ecosystems. However, existing research efforts focus on decentralizing interactions through distributed network topologies and open protocols lack theoretical convergence, resulting in a fragmented and complex landscape that inadequately addresses the challenges organizations face when transitioning to an ecosystem strategy that harnesses the potential of disintermediation. To address these gaps and successfully engineer next-generation business ecosystems, a comprehensive approach is needed that encompasses the technical design, economic models, and socio-technical dynamics. This dissertation aims to contribute to this endeavor by exploring the implications of Web3 technologies on digital innovation and transformation paths. Drawing on a combination of qualitative and quantitative research, it makes three overarching contributions: First, a conceptual perspective on \u27tokenization\u27 in markets clarifies its ambiguity and provides a unified understanding of the role in ecosystems. This perspective includes frameworks on: (a) technological; (b) economic; and (c) governance aspects of tokenization. Second, a design perspective on \u27decentralized marketplaces\u27 highlights the need for an integrated understanding of micro-structures, business structures, and IT infrastructures in blockchain-enabled marketplaces. This perspective includes: (a) an explorative literature review on design factors; (b) case studies and insights from practitioners to develop requirements and design principles; and (c) a design science project with an interface design prototype of blockchain-enabled marketplaces. Third, an economic perspective on \u27self-sovereign identities\u27 (SSI) as micro-structural elements of decentralized markets. This perspective includes: (a) value creation mechanisms and business aspects of strategic alliances governing SSI ecosystems; (b) business model characteristics adopted by organizations leveraging SSI; and (c) business model archetypes and a framework for SSI ecosystem engineering efforts. The dissertation concludes by discussing limitations as well as outlining potential avenues for future research. These include, amongst others, exploring the challenges of ecosystem bootstrapping in the absence of intermediaries, examining the make-or-join decision in ecosystem emergence, addressing the multidimensional complexity of Web3-enabled ecosystems, investigating incentive mechanisms for inter-organizational collaboration, understanding the role of trust in decentralized environments, and exploring varying degrees of decentralization with potential transition pathways

    Did you just make that up? An auto-ethnographic investigation into the emergence of images in painting, as situated within the framework of C20th and C21st British Art

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    I am a painter. My paintings depict figures in groups or alone, enacting narrative in illusionistic space. The paintings are produced without much explicit preparation in terms of their content, relying on improvisation in the studio for their realisation. I do not have a clear idea of when they are finished, either, and I often alter paintings long after their first conclusion. I set out to examine where the images and spaces I depict come from, how their form develops and how they might continue to emerge; how I make things up, in other words. In doing this, I hope to make the paintings better by increasing the complexity of my understanding of them, to shed light on creative practice in general, and to offer insight to other painters like me, and to researchers into creative practice. I have subjected the emergent and shifting nature of my paintings to academic study by combining a close attention to the work and its processes with a self-reflective journal of the activity and ongoing theoretical writing. This process generates a virtuous spiral of activity in the studio, as writing about the painting produces insight, which is fed into the painting, making it better, and producing more insight, which is fed into the painting and so on. In subjecting my studio practice to study, I hope to open it up in a way that might be useful to others. The analysis of reflections on my own painting - developing the concept of the intersubjective object - is an attempt to make sense of interrelationships between the material, social and theoretical territories of painting. This is where the originality of my study lies. In presenting it, I offer insights into my creative practice that will be useful for other creative practitioners, and for academic study of creative practice. I address questions about improvisation and narrative development in my paintings. First, I introduce the thesis and lay out its terms. In chapter 1 I set out the literature which informs the thesis, and in chapter 2 I set out the methodologies I have approached in working out my own method. In chapter 3 self-reflection and reflexivity are discussed in relation to improvisation and narrative, in chapter 4 which I examine how meaning is realised in relation to the surface of the painting, in chapter 5 which the positioning of my studio practice in terms of its wider contexts is examined in relation to painting as an intersubjective object and in chapter 6 which I look at continuity in my studio practice. I propose cloth as a metaphor for the work, as an articulation of development within individual paintings and within the practice. In chapter 7 I discuss the problem of finishing paintings. This research has brought my painting into sharper focus, examining the relationship of painting to the improvisation of content. It has allowed me to re-examine elements of my practice that I have either taken for granted or overlooked, revealing historical parallels that would have remained invisible otherwise. It develops an understanding of the significance of narrative and improvisation in any creative practice, elucidating ideas about the self in creativity. In differentiating painting from other fine art practices and creative forms it produces a powerful sense of the significance of the painting in making meaning. The research leads me to the identification of a painting as an intersubjective object, in that my own subjectivity and those of others meet and operate there to generate and develop meaning. This theoretical construction can be employed in discussion of other art works, as well as my own
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