Antiquities Theft: The Role of the Museum in Modern Symbolic Violence

Humans have been collecting artifacts for centuries, whether it is for their aesthetic value or for the acquisition of knowledge. However, these artifacts have, in most cases, been taken without permission from the countries of origin. Today, museums are struggling with the issue of repatriation and many refuse to return their priceless possessions. Western museums and their supporters are arguing that repatriation will put the artifacts in danger and hurt the chances for humanity to learn from them. The arguments of these museums are an attempt of symbolic violence on non-Western nations, who are seen as unfit or unable to care for their own history

School Closures: A Shell Game with Students

With the vast majority of students graduating high school unprepared for college, can we say that the close and replace strategy -- Bloomberg's dominant strategy to improve struggling schools -- is significantly improving academic prospects for NYC students? Or, is it largely moving the highest needs students around in a shell game?While it is unclear whether closing schools is having positive impacts on student achievement, a number of questions remain unanswered: What is happening to the highest needs students who used to attend the large campus high schools, but do not attend the new small schools? What is happening to the students who give up on school altogether because their school is being closed? What we do know is that the educational futures of many high needs students are being neglected while the City doubles down on this damaging policy

Trophies for the Empire: The Epic Dispute Between Greece and England Over the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum

In the early morning light on July 31, 1801, a ship-carpenter, five crew members, and twenty Athenian laborers “mounted the walls” of the Parthenon and, using ropes and pulleys, removed from the Parthenon edifice a sculptured marble block depicting a youth and a centaur in combat and lowered it to the ground.1 The next day the group lowered a second sculptured marble from the magnificent temple.2 During the next few years, the workmen stripped 15 of the 92 square-carved plaques of Pentelic marble (metopes) and 247 feet of the original 524 feet of frieze from the Parthenon high walls, as well as 17 pieces of sculpture from the pediment.3 In time, the entire collection was shipped to London. Except for the devastating Venetian bombing of the Parthenon in 1687, the removal of these sculptures from the Parthenon’s edifice was the single most violent desecration of classical Greece’s celebrated monument since its completion during the age of Pericles 2,200 years before

Seismic reliability assessment of classical columns subjected to near-fault ground motions

A methodology for the performance-based seismic risk assessment of classical columns is presented. Despite their apparent instability, classical columns are, in general, earthquake resistant, as proven from the fact that many classical monuments have survived many strong earthquakes over the centuries. Nevertheless, the quantitative assessment of their reliability and the understanding of their dynamic behavior are not easy, because of the fundamental nonlinear character and the sensitivity of their response. In this paper, a seismic risk assessment is performed for a multidrum column using Monte Carlo simulation with synthetic ground motions. The ground motions adopted contain a high- and low-frequency component, combining the stochastic method, and a simple analytical pulse model to simulate the directivity pulse contained in near source ground motions. The deterministic model for the numerical analysis of the system is three-dimensional and is based on the Discrete Element Method. Fragility curves are produced conditional on magnitude and distance from the fault and also on scalar intensity measures for two engineering demand parameters, one concerning the intensity of the response during the ground shaking and the other the residual deformation of the column. Three performance levels are assigned to each engineering demand parameter. Fragility analysis demonstrated some of the salient features of these spinal systems under near-fault seismic excitations, as for example, their decreased vulnerability for very strong earthquakes of magnitude 7 or larger. The analysis provides useful results regarding the seismic reliability of classical monuments and decision making during restoration process

Demokratia: will the Greek ideal work in Greece's favour to return the Parthenon Marbles under international law?

This article reviews the recent publications concerning the centuries-old dispute over the Parthenon Marbles. The discussion focuses on the application of international law to the question of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, and reviews Professor Catharine Titi’s book The Parthenon Marbles and International Law, with reference to and comparison with Alexander Herman’s book The Parthenon Marbles Dispute. This review specifically evaluates the question of whether there is a customary international law on the return of unlawfully removed cultural heritage, which would require States, and specifically the United Kingdom, to be bound to such a rule. The existence of this rule would strengthen the efforts of Greece to argue for the return of the Marbles, which Titi argues is best resolved through diplomacy, and not recourse to the European Court of Human Rights or the International Court of Justice. Despite a growing global discussion about the need for repatriation of colonial-looted cultural objects, it remains to be seen whether it will have any impact, or indeed put pressure on, the Trustees of the British Museum or the UK Parliament which must pass an act to deaccession the Marbles from the national collection

Engineering of Ancient Greece

STEP Category: Education AbroadMy STEP project will be a two-week education abroad trip to Greece with a one-week class on campus in May 2019. The education abroad program, “Engineering of Ancient Greece” is through the Office of International Affairs at OSU. From May 6-10, I will be participating in the on-campus course, ENGR 5797.18, which explores the engineering wonders of Ancient Greece and the construction methods that were used. May 12-23 will be spent in-country, traveling to various islands and cities throughout Greece, exploring the temples and ruins while experiencing the modern Greek culture. The goal of the program is for students to learn the importance of iconic engineering sites and their construction methods. In addition to this, students get to explore a combination of ancient and modern Greek cultures and how the nation has been impacted by history. I have always wanted to travel to Greece, to visit Athens and the Parthenon, and to study the ancient Greek civilizations. My goal for this trip is to increase my global awareness by learning about and engaging with a new culture. I also want to increase my understanding of engineering by studying its beginnings in Greece and learning the tools and methods they used. To prepare for the trip and experience, I am learning some of the history of Greece and basic Greek phrases. Besides being an engineering student, I am also a Classical Humanities minor, studying Greek civilization. I think that this program will be a great way to merge my two courses of study and enrich my academic experience at OSU.The Ohio State University Second-year Transformational Experience Program (STEP)Academic Major: Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineerin

The Way Forward: From Sanctions to Supports

The New York City Working Group on School Transformation brought together education practitioners, school reformers, policy-makers, advocates, and parent and student leaders to propose alternatives to the school closings policy of the New York City Department of Education (DOE). (See the list of Working Group members in Appendix 1.) The group was initiated by the New York City Coalition for Educational Justice and coordinated by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform following the fall 2011 conference Effective Alternatives to School Closings: Transforming Struggling Schools in New York City. This report presents the Working Group's conclusions about the limitations of school closings and a set of recommendations for systemic responses to the needs of struggling schools