141 research outputs found

    OLAUDAH EQUIANO, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, AND IDEAS OF CULTURE

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    #FreeBree as a ‘Relay of Witnessing’: Remediation, Crowdsourcing, and Activist Art

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    On June 27, 2015, ten days after the shootings that killed nine worshippers at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, including Senator Clementa C. Pinckney, artist-activist Bree Newsome engaged in direct action by climbing up to remove the Confederate flag that had continued to fly at full mast at the state capitol even as others were lowered in mourning. Images of Newsome’s actions, words, subsequent arraignment, and of the return of the flag up the pole 45 minutes later, were then—and continue to be—widely circulated through a variety of media modes, including TV news segments and a host of videos, photos, GIFS, memes, graphic fan art, and blog posts. This paper thinks through the role of remediation and crowdsourcing in distributing, archiving, and amplifying the impact Newsome’s project. Cognizant of the increasing corporate routinization of user-generated online responses to contemporary art, I propose that Newsome’s public-facing embodied performance illustrates that remediation and crowdsourcing can, nonetheless, be mobilized as powerfully critical and political modalities. To develop this argument, I draw, first, on the conceptualization of digital portraiture as a “cumulative, serial” genre (Walker Rettberg), reading Newsome’s direct-action performance-for-video as enacting Black feminist and radical philosophies and practices of resistance to anti-Black visual surveillance (Browne, Harney and Moten, Fleetwood) and as prompting followers/fans to extend the temporal and spatial reach of the intervention. Then, I will show the relevance of Pramrod Nayar’s concept of “radical graphics” for artistic-activist practices of remediation and crowdsourcing by analyzing the large online archive of drawings and memes portraying Newsome as a superhero: an alternative icon that makes it possible feel and remember history differently. Creatively co-constructed and widely re-circulated, Newsome’s Black female embodiment of courage, fugitivity, planning, faith, and persistence counters the dominant narration of the Charleston shootings, which has circulated ambiguously around the hateful motives and mental health of white shooter Dylan Roof, as well as the broader amnesiac and white supremacist post-slavery historical surround (Sharpe). Finally, I will theorize social media users/audiences as picking up “the relay of witnessing” (Chambers; cf. McNeill). Posts tagged #FreeBree echoed and amplified Newsome’s declaration that “I did it because I am free,” and thus followers/co-creators can be understood as sharing in the ongoing, concerted labour of what the artist has called “tearing hate from the sky.” Through this case study analysis, the paper will contribute significant insights into the complex relationship between digital technologies, on the one hand, and collective artistic practices of self-inscription and witnessing, on the other, in the Movement for Black Lives at a time when “the touch of the digital” (Hudson and Zimmermann), the racialized distribution of “digital labour” (Nakamura), and the logic of “distributed storage” (Van Dijck) constitute the new matrix of critical political art and activism

    Confirmation of Galba truncatula as an intermediate host snail for Calicophoron daubneyi in Great Britain, with evidence of alternative snail species hosting Fasciola hepatica

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    BACKGROUND: Fasciola hepatica is a highly prevalent parasite infecting livestock in Great Britain, while Calicophoron daubneyi is an emerging parasite within the GB livestock industry. Both F. hepatica and C. daubneyi require an intermediate host snail to complete their life-cycles and infect ruminants; however, there has been no confirmation of the intermediate host of C. daubneyi in GB, while there are questions regarding alternative host snails to Galba truncatula for F. hepatica. In this study, PCR was used to identify C. daubneyi hosting snail species on Welsh pastures and to identify any alternative snail species hosting F. hepatica. FINDINGS: Two hundred and sixty four snails were collected between May-September 2015 from six farms in mid-Wales known to have livestock infected with C. daubneyi and F. hepatica. Fifteen out of 134 G. truncatula were found positive for C. daubneyi, one of which was also positive for F. hepatica. Three snail species were found positive for F. hepatica [18/134 G. truncatula, 13/52 Radix balthica, and 3/78 Potamopyrgus antipodarum (New Zealand mud snail)], but no evidence of C. daubneyi infection in the latter two species was found. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that G. truncatula is a host for C. daubneyi in GB. Galba truncatula is also an established host of F. hepatica, and interactions between both species at intermediate host level could potentially occur. Radix balthica and P. antipodarum were found positive for F. hepatica but not C. daubneyi. This could indicate a role for alternative snail species other than G. truncatula in infecting pastures with F. hepatica in GB. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-1271-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

    Interdisciplinary Assessment and Plan for an Energy Efficient HVAC System for Dumbarton House

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    Dumbarton House tells the story of life in the City of Washington during the formation of the early republic and a new national identity. This project will explore and recommend sustainable approaches to collections care and preventive conservation for the house and its collections. Recent failures in the 21-year-old patchwork HVAC system demonstrate that a planned upgrade, based on a thoughtful review, not a crisis-response, is a critical institutional responsibility. Our advisors have voiced concern over our ability to efficiently and effectively manage the current system. An interdisciplinary team of sustainability, collections and energy experts will review environmental conditions records, and all assessments, and then explore and recommend a holistic approach to measured, responsive, system and operational changes. We expect requests for energy audits and a geothermal assessment. The team will formally recommend next-steps to the board for implementation

    Attitudes towards clinical services among people who self-harm: systematic review.

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    BACKGROUND: Self-harm is increasingly common in many countries, is often repeated and may have other negative outcomes. AIMS: To systematically review people's attitudes towards clinical services following self-harm in order to inform service design and improvement. METHOD: A search of electronic databases was conducted and experts in the field were contacted in order to identify relevant worldwide qualitative or quantitative studies. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers with more weight given to studies of greater quality and relevance. RESULTS: Thirty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. Despite variations in healthcare systems and setting, participants' experiences were remarkably similar. Poor communication between patients and staff and a perceived lack of staff knowledge with regard to self-harm were common themes. Many participants suggested that psychosocial assessments and access to after-care needed to be improved. CONCLUSIONS: Specific aspects of care that might increase service user satisfaction and treatment adherence include staff knowledge, communication and better after-care arrangements. A standard protocol could aid regular audits of users' experiences of services
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