Using Vignettes to Explore Caste Attitudes in Central Nepal

This study aims to explore the attitudes of young persons in Nepal toward caste using completed short stories, or ‘vignettes’, that imagine situations involving intercaste couples. A total of around 230 stories were gathered from 2018 to 2019. The study, conducted among Class 11 and 12 students in around a dozen schools in central Nepal, covered a mixture of rural and urban locations. The results were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative analysis used simple statistical techniques (p values) to test whether there were statistically significant differences in story outcomes based on author and story characteristics. The analysis suggests, tentatively, that young people do not see caste as a barrier to relationships. The qualitative analysis of tropes and themes illuminated new framings of caste that are now prominent, including narratives that may reflect social change that occurred in the civil war period, and in the rise of identities focused on ‘merit’ and ‘achievement’ in the sphere of work rather than on ascriptive identities like caste and ethnicity

“Conveying your intelligence on paper”: How do three Year 12 learners negotiate the demands of writing for assessment at A Level?

This exploratory case study, based in a socio-cultural view of literacy, centres on interviews with three Year 12 learners, who describe their writing for assessment at A Level. Entering a new arena of literacy practices, the learners understand that previously successful strategies for writing at GCSE need to be reconsidered due to different, more complex demands. Claiming “no time” for reading and writing outside their studies, they concentrate on becoming experts in examination essays, a genre of writing in itself. Thematic analysis of interviews given at three separate points in their first year of A Level study illustrates the extent to which the development of a “writerly voice” depends on how confidently they negotiate the two requirements of their writing tasks. The first, incorporating an emphasis on writing as a product, encourages an approach I identify as “writing competently”. The learners are placed in more passive “pupil”-like positions, in which adherence to structures and guidance established by school and examination boards is stressed. However, A Level essay mark schemes also reward the manipulation and evaluation of subject content, which favour a more process focussed view of writing. Identifying this as the second requirement, “writing critically”, I draw on Bereiter and Scardamalia’s (1987) model of writing as knowledge transforming. Seeing the generation of texts as problem-solving activities, learners consolidate and clarify their understanding in greater depth. Regarding writing in this way also places increased responsibility on learners to develop more autonomous “student”-like approaches, in which greater individuality of response is evident. The research suggests that more reflective writers, who relate their written tasks to perspectives separate to examination criteria, are likely to develop greater agency in their writing and learning. This has significant pedagogical implications across disciplines and at an earlier stage than during the high-stakes examination years of secondary education

Thomas Hardy and Empire: Colonisers and the Colonised in the Works of Thomas Hardy

In this study I examine the works of Thomas Hardy with the aim of 'identifying empire's fingerprints' in his writings. The extent to which British domestic culture was influenced by empire is a matter of considerable debate amongst social and cultural theorists, and I join this debate by analysing an author not usually recognised as being an 'imperial' writer, despite the fact that he was writing during a period of major imperial expansion. The expansion of British imperial power after the Napoleonic Wars was closely associated with the growth of powerful national institutions within Britain, and I suggest that a direct relationship exists between processes occurring in rural England, as described by Hardy, and processes occurring in the colonies of the empire in the latter half of the nineteenth century. I examine the many references to the Roman Empire and the Napoleonic Wars in Hardy's writing and suggest that these works reveal much about his own attitudes towards empire and historical progress. The binary opposition between ideas of the primitive and civilised was a central tenet of colonialism in the nineteenth century, and in his work Hardy questions this opposition and demonstrates the effect of outsiders on so-called 'primitive' communities. I examine the debate surrounding the use of gender as an articulated category with race and class when considering the oppressions of imperialism, and show how, by exposing the power structures operating within Britain, Hardy produces a critique of all forms of ideological oppression

Genomics:GTL Bioenergy Research Centers White Paper

In his Advanced Energy Initiative announced in January 2006, President George W. Bush committed the nation to new efforts to develop alternative sources of energy to replace imported oil and fossil fuels. Developing cost-effective and energy-efficient methods of producing renewable alternative fuels such as cellulosic ethanol from biomass and solar-derived biofuels will require transformational breakthroughs in science and technology. Incremental improvements in current bioenergy production methods will not suffice. The Genomics:GTL Bioenergy Research Centers will be dedicated to fundamental research on microbe and plant systems with the goal of developing knowledge that will advance biotechnology-based strategies for biofuels production. The aim is to spur substantial progress toward cost-effective production of biologically based renewable energy sources. This document describes the rationale for the establishment of the centers and their objectives in light of the U.S. Department of Energy's mission and goals. Developing energy-efficient and cost-effective methods of producing alternative fuels such as cellulosic ethanol from biomass will require transformational breakthroughs in science and technology. Incremental improvements in current bioenergy-production methods will not suffice. The focus on microbes (for cellular mechanisms) and plants (for source biomass) fundamentally exploits capabilities well known to exist in the microbial world. Thus 'proof of concept' is not required, but considerable basic research into these capabilities remains an urgent priority. Several developments have converged in recent years to suggest that systems biology research into microbes and plants promises solutions that will overcome critical roadblocks on the path to cost-effective, large-scale production of cellulosic ethanol and other renewable energy from biomass. The ability to rapidly sequence the DNA of any organism is a critical part of these new capabilities, but it is only a first step. Other advances include the growing number of high-throughput techniques for protein production and characterization; a range of new instrumentation for observing proteins and other cell constituents; the rapid growth of commercially available reagents for protein production; a new generation of high-intensity light sources that provide precision imaging on the nanoscale and allow observation of molecular interactions in ultrafast time intervals; major advances in computational capability; and the continually increasing numbers of these instruments and technologies within the national laboratory infrastructure, at universities, and in private industry. All these developments expand our ability to elucidate mechanisms present in living cells, but much more remains to be done. The Centers are designed to accomplish GTL program objectives more rapidly, more effectively, and at reduced cost by concentrating appropriate technologies and scientific expertise, from genome sequence to an integrated systems understanding of the pathways and internal structures of microbes and plants most relevant to developing bioenergy compounds. The Centers will seek to understand the principles underlying the structural and functional design of selected microbial, plant, and molecular systems. This will be accomplished by building technological pathways linking the genome-determined components in an organism with bioenergy-relevant cellular systems that can be characterized sufficiently to generate realistic options for biofuel development. In addition, especially in addressing what are believed to be nearer-term approaches to renewable energy (e.g., producing cellulosic ethanol cost-effectively and energy-efficiently), the Center research team must understand in depth the current industrial-level roadblocks and bottlenecks (see section, GTL's Vision for Biological Energy Alternatives, below). For the Centers, and indeed the entire BER effort, to be successful, Center research must be integrated with individual investigator research, and coordination of activities, from DNA sequencing to high-throughput protein development and characterization

Relational Lockdown and Relational Trauma in the Time of Coronavirus: A Reflection from a UK Family Therapist

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordLike a meteor hitting the earth’s surface, 41,698* unexpected deaths have shaken, disturbed, and saddened the core of our nation. This reflection considers the consequences of the coronavirus crisis in the UK with particular reference to the impact on families and on the practice of family therapists. The perspective presented can only be partial because of the fast‐changing situation and the limited access to alternative perspectives that are available during this period of relational lockdown. The author provides a systemic understanding of what has happened and what is happening

Dalit identity in urban Pokhara, Nepal

Urban migration by Nepalese Dalits has not only provided them with social, economic and educational opportunities, but also the possibility of escaping traditional caste-based discrimination. However, despite making the most of opportunities provided by the city, Dalits have not been able to pursue their political agenda to the extent of other ethnic communities. This study in the city of Pokhara, Nepal, explored Dalit identity using two rounds of focus group discussions involving a total of 23 individuals drawn from a range of Dalit caste groups with a variety of livelihoods. The results describe the caste-based discrimination experienced by the participants and the different strategies they employ to either reinvent themselves by changing names; or embracing their caste-heritage and taking advantage of affirmative action programmes. Whilst urban migration can provide some relief from discrimination, the study reveals that caste still remains prominent in the lives of Dalits in Pokhara. The paper argues that Dalit unity and elimination of intra-Dalit caste-based discrimination are needed in order to institutionalise their citizenship rights in post conflict Nepal