Breaking with tradition: Slave literacy in early Virginia, 1680--1780

Breaking with Tradition is a study of slave literacy in eighteenth-century British North America, the era of the First Great Awakening and the American Revolution. Instead of highlighting the work of a few northern slave authors (the present emphasis in African American literary history), it focuses on the relationship between slave education in colonial Virginia and the social and political circumstances in which slaves acquired a knowledge of letters. A social history of life in the slave quarters, the great house, and in towns, Breaking with Tradition is at once a case study of slaves reading and writing in the South and a counterpoint to current studies that paint a picture of early African Americans as being illiterate. Ultimately, this thesis explores the interplay between African American studies and the History of the Book

“Able and willing to bear Arms”: Indentured Servants and the Coming of the American Revolution in Virginia

O assunto dos servos contratados, que foram encorajados a abandonar os seus mestres pelo governador real, John Murray, o Conde de Dunmore, tem sido descurado pelos estudiosos. Desde 1775, a sua Proclamação incendiária despoleta uma série de questões às quais os historiadores ainda precisam de responder. Por exemplo, porque é que o governador incluiu os servos? Que circunstâncias o levaram a fazer tal convite às pessoas vinculadas? Como é que as elites da colónia responderam? Essas e outras questões são o foco deste ensaio que explora a servidão contratada na Virgínia durante a era da Revolução Americana. Além de afro-americanos escravizados, os servos contratados influenciaram a Proclamação de Dunmore que, por sua vez, incentivou a nobreza da Virgínia a romper com a Inglaterra.The subject of indentured servants who were urged to abandon their masters by the Royal Governor, John Murray, the Earl of Dunmore, has been overlooked by scholars. Since 1775, his incendiary Proclamation begs a series of questions historians have yet to answer. Why, for instance, did the Governor include servants? What circumstances prompted him to make such an invitation to bound persons? How did the elites in the colony respond? These, and other questions, are the focus of this essay that explores indentured servitude in Virginia during the age of the American Revolution. Besides enslaved African Americans, indentured servants influenced Dunmore’s Proclamation that, in turn, encouraged the gentry in Virginia to break with England.Le sujet des serviteurs engagés qui ont été encouragés à abandonner leurs maîtres par le gouverneur royal, John Murray, comte de Dunmore, a été négligé par les universitaires. Depuis 1775, sa Proclamation incendiaire soulève une série de questions auxquelles les historiens doivent encore répondre. Pourquoi, par exemple, le gouverneur a-t-il inclus des serviteurs ? Quelles circonstances l’ont poussé à adresser une telle invitation aux personnes arrêtées ? Comment les élites de la colonie ont-elles réagi ? Ces questions, ainsi que d’autres, sont au centre de cet essai qui explore la servitude sous contrat en Virginie à l’époque de la Révolution Américaine. Outre les Afro-Américains asservis, les serviteurs sous contrat ont influencé la Proclamation de Dunmore qui a encouragé la noblesse de Virginie à rompre avec l’Angleterre

Wireless earbuds for low-cost hearing screening

We present the first wireless earbud hardware that can perform hearing screening by detecting otoacoustic emissions. The conventional wisdom has been that detecting otoacoustic emissions, which are the faint sounds generated by the cochlea, requires sensitive and expensive acoustic hardware. Thus, medical devices for hearing screening cost thousands of dollars and are inaccessible in low and middle income countries. We show that by designing wireless earbuds using low-cost acoustic hardware and combining them with wireless sensing algorithms, we can reliably identify otoacoustic emissions and perform hearing screening. Our algorithms combine frequency modulated chirps with wideband pulses emitted from a low-cost speaker to reliably separate otoacoustic emissions from in-ear reflections and echoes. We conducted a clinical study with 50 ears across two healthcare sites. Our study shows that the low-cost earbuds detect hearing loss with 100% sensitivity and 89.7% specificity, which is comparable to the performance of a $8000 medical device. By developing low-cost and open-source wearable technology, our work may help address global health inequities in hearing screening by democratizing these medical devices