Negotiating colonial violence: spaces of precarisation in Palestine

This paper examines the ways in which colonial violence is transformed and spatialised into negotiated precarities at the occupied Palestine. The notion of “negotiated precarity” is developed herein, to refer to two aspects in particular. First, to spatial compartmentalisation, which shows how the settler colonial power operates by creating precarious administrative zones, where the life of the colonised becomes prone to several flexible, negotiated uses of power. Second, negotiated precarity is used to refer to the conduct of the colonised that counters, transforms, redirects, cancels or hampers the colonial spatialisations of power. By focusing on the “negotiated precarities” in a singular West Bank village, I exemplify how the colonial governing is entwined with spatial compartments that enable several informal, indirect and ad hoc techniques of colonial violence, but also how the colonial governing is constantly mobilised, negotiated, countered and redirected in/through the everyday Palestinian spaces.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Tuning the size of supramolecular single-chain polymer nanoparticles

In this article we further investigate our recently devised method for folding polymer chains into nanoparticles using intramolecular, supramolecular interactions. Specifically, we show a direct relationship between molecular weight of the parent chain and size of the folded nanoparticle. This is investigated both analytically via the separation and subsequent characterization of a polydisperse nanoparticle sample into high and low molecular weight fractions, and by examining a family of poly(norbornenes) deliberately prepared with varying molecular weights. With these polymer nanoparticles in hand their assembly on surfaces is studied where larger structures are formed as a result of the interplay between the movement of the nanoparticles on the surface and the evaporation of solvent

Polymer Science Curriculum for the 21st Century: PUNK

With the increasing scope of polymer science research, and growing employment in the field,understanding of polymer chemistry and properties is now an integral need for undergraduate students studying chemistry, chemical engineering and materials science. There is also a need to engage students in polymer chemistry earlier in their careers, and outreach efforts to high school classrooms are critical. Faculty members often struggle to find appropriate polymer chemistry instructional items to incorporate in their courses. Resources for polymer science instruction, particularly for laboratory courses, are outdated and do not adequately address recent advances in the field. Individual faculty members are developing polymer-based lectures and laboratory experiments to fill the gaps. To address the growing need for polymer chemistry education, a group of interested faculty members from institutions across the country have launched the online resource PUNK: The Polymer Undergraduate Network of Knowledge. We invite you to join the group to help us develop the network, access relevant resources, and create new instructional materials