Changing the allegorical landscape: Masonic and Hermetic additions to the Dantean underworld of Gloria Naylor’s Linden Hills

pp. 10-28 of the Journal of the LUCAS Graduate Conference, Issue 6 (2018). The complete issue can be found at: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/5771

Abra: Expanding Artists’ Books into the Digital Realm

The recipient of an Expanded Artists’ Books Grant from the Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago, Abra is an exploration and celebration of the potentials of the artist’s book in the twenty-first century. A collaboration between Amaranth Borsuk, Kate Durbin, Ian Hatcher, and a potentially infinite number of readers, the project merges physical and digital media, integrating a hand-made artist’s book with an iPad app to play with the notion of the “illuminated” manuscript and let readers interact in dynamic ways with both the form and content of the work. A convergence of print and digital media, the project offers opportunities to consider the way materiality and embodiment are interlinked and how we might productively play with that system of exchange

The role of the Eurasian wheat belt to regional and global food security

Food security remains to be a major societal concern. In the light of the current expectations of population growth, world food production has to be massively increased to sustain the associated food demand rise. While agricultural productivity was rising during recent decades in the US, Europe and also in some developing countries, the corresponding growth rates lately appeared to be slowing down. In fact, the only world region with a significant amount of arable land, which currently is not under cultivation and which at the same time is, moreover, experiencing rising productivity figures, is the so called 'Eurasian wheat belt', comprising of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Central Asian countries, namely Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kirgizstan. In this light, the Joint Research Centre and the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development organized a thematic workshop, held during 20 – 22 May 2014 in Istanbul/Turkey, set up to bring experts on the matter together and to discuss to what extent these countries could play a role for regional and international food security. Following the workshop analysis and discussion, this report provides a comprehensive technical overview of the wheat production, and the main factors to achieve full production potential across the Eurasian wheat belt with regards to national, regional and global issues of cereal supply and food security in evolving global markets. It reviews key horizontal issues, such as land policy, credit and finance, privatization, farm structures, social consequences of transition, environmental challenges, against the backdrop of agrarian reforms implemented during the transition period. In addition the report explores production potential and corresponding institutional and policy restrictions in a series of Eurasian countries. Finally, the report closes with expert opined policy-relevant conclusions as a basis for policy suggestions and recommendations.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Nerd/Geek Masculinity: Technocracy, Rationality, and Gender in Nerd Culture's Countermasculine Hegemony

Nerd and geek culture have become subjects of increasing public concern in recent years, with growing visibility and power for technical professions and increasing relevance of video games, science fiction, and fantasy in popular culture. As a subculture, nerd/geek culture tends to be described in terms of the experiences of men and boys who are unpopular because of their niche interests or lack of social skills. This dissertation proposes the concept of nerd/geek masculinity to understand discourses of hegemonic masculinity in nerd/geek culture. Examining three case studies, the novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the neoreactionary political ideology, and the #GamerGate controversy, the dissertation suggests that nerd/geek masculinity responds to a perceived emasculation of men who identify as nerds or geeks by constructing the interests, skills, and behaviors of nerd/geek culture as inherently male traits. In this way, nerd/geek masculinity turns the very traits nerds and geeks are often mocked for into evidence of manhood – as the cost of excluding women and queer people from nerd and geek culture

Hvordan kan bruk av velferdsteknologi i hjemmet tilrettelegges for personer med demens?

Hensikt: Finne forskning om hvordan velferdsteknologi kan tilrettelegges for personer med demens, slik at de kan bli boende hjemme lenger. Sykepleieteorien til Dorothea Orem benyttes på grunn av hennes syn på pasientens evne til selvhjelp og selvstendighet. Bakgrunn: Velferdsteknologi er teknologi som skal hjelpe personer med sykdom til å mestre hverdagen. Som følge av sykepleiermangelen i Norge blir velferdsteknologi trukket frem i helsepolitikken som teknologiske hjelpemidler for pasienter, pårørende og sykepleiere. Demens er en progredierende kognitiv hjernesvikt og det hevdes 10% av alle over 65 år har sykdommen. Mye av tiden i omsorgstjenesten brukes på tidkrevende arbeidsoppgaver som kan reduseres ved bruk av velferdsteknologi. Metode: Det ble søkt etter studier som viser både positive og negative sider ved bruk av velferdsteknologi. Søket ble avgrenset etter inklusjons- og eksklusjonskriterier, studiene skulle være fagfellevurderte og være vitenskapelige. Resultat: De mest vellykkede typer velferdsteknologi var elektronisk medisindispenser, GPS-teknologi, trygghetsteknologi og telemedisin. Selv om de var vellykket var det også utfordringer knyttet til de teknologiske hjelpemidlene. Studier viste informasjonsmangel til pårørende og brukere som førte til mangelfull implementering til rett tid. Vektteppe, kameraovervåkning og smart flower stand var av de teknologiene med mest utfordringer knyttet til bruk. Konklusjon: Teknologien bør være enkel å benytte og informasjon om velferdsteknologi bør gis på et tidlig tidspunkt. Kartlegging av en bruker sitt behov for assistanse er viktig for at riktige teknologiske hjelpemidler blir implementert.Aim: The aim of this study is to find research on how assistive technology can be facilitated towards people with dementia, so they can stay at home longer. The nursing theorist Dorothea Orem is used due to her approach on a patient’s ability of self-help and independence. Background: Assistive technology is supposed to help people with illness overcome difficulties in everyday life. Due to the lack of nurses in Norway, assistive technology is emphasized in heath politics as technological means for patients, caregivers and nurses. Dementia is a progressive cognitive brain disease and it is reported that 10% of everyone over the age of 65 has the disease. Much of the time used in health care services is used on time consuming tasks, which can be reduced using assistive technology. Methods: When the search was conducted studies showing both positive and negative sides of assistive technology were found. The search was limited to inclusion- and exclusion criteria. The studies also had to be peer reviewed and scientific. Results: The most successful type of assistive technology was the electronic medicine dispenser, GPStechnology, safety technology and telemedicine. Even though they were successful, difficulties related to technological devices occurred. The studies showed that lack of information to caregivers, and users resulted in inadequate implementation at the right time. Weight ball blanket, camera surveillance and smart flower stand were considered as the technology with least effectivity. Conclusion Assistive technology should be easy to use and information about assistive technology should be given in an early stage. Mapping a patient need of assistance is important for implementing the right type of assistive technolog

Honoring the Legacy: an Exhibition of Works Presented by ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY

The story of ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY is one of tenacity, resilience and positive aging where art, education, health, and aging intersect to provide a model for society (www.artsandcultureresearch.org/artcart ). In the mid-2000s the Research Center for Arts and Culture (RCAC) conducted the only research on professional visual artists age 62 and over in the New York City metro area. ABOVE GROUND1 found that 61% of professional visual artists age 62+ have made no preparation for their work after their death; 95% have not archived their work; 97% have no estate plan; 3 out of every 4 artists have no will and 1 in 5 have no documentation of their work at all.2 Yet, in many respects they are a model for society, maintaining strong social networks and an astonishing resilience as they age. ART CART is a response to this research, begun by six women faculty in higher education from the arts, education, health and aging. We all valued interdisciplinary, inter-generational education and saw too little of it in our practice. We saw advantages for our students to gain a grounding in both creativity and aging, learn basic health prevention principles, and take these lessons back to a variety of disciplines from social work and occupational therapy to art education, art history, arts administration, museum studies, art therapy, oral history, and dance education. We saw a model of experiential learning where students could put what they learned into immediate practice. For artists, we saw a way to keep their work from their greatest fear: the dumpster. We saw a mechanism to help them get organized, urge them to sign, date, and document their work, archive their digital records at Columbia University, obtain wills and estate plans,3 while participating fully in an inter-generational team where an artist, an artist-selected working partner and student fellows worked together towards the same goals. ART CART began with six artists and twelve students at Columbia University in 2010. By 2016, it operates both in New York City and Washington, DC, with 18 artists and 18 fellows. Alumni artists post-ART CART have secured lifetime achievement awards, grants, studio space, sales, gallery representation, exhibitions and a rejuvenated appreciation of their work across generations. And they are still documenting their work