The usage of Internet technologies by high school students in the completion of educational tasks outside of the school setting

Examines the use of Information and Communicative Technologies (ICT) by high school students from economically-disadvantaged households to complete homework assignments. Results of a survey of 240 high school students at an urban, inner-city high school located in Southern California, indicated, (1) the Digital Divide is narrowing among social classes, as most students reported having Internet access from their homes, (2) students willingness to embrace new uses of ICT in their studies, (3) the speed of completing homework was increased through the use of ICT multi-tasking and the use of search engines and, (4) computer maintenance issues were not a significant hindrance, as most students have some basic computer literacy skills

The Road to Disunion, Volume II: Secessionists Triumphant, 1854-1861

Interview with William W. Freehling Interviewed by Christopher Childers Civil War Book Review (CWBR): The two volumes of Road to Disunion constitute a grand narrative history not often seen in recent historical writing. What compelled you to write the history of seces...

Gender, Nation, and Belonging: Representing Mothers and the Maternal in Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation

Abstract In this article, we explore an understanding of gender and motherhood in Asghar Farhadi’s 2011 Oscar winning film, Jodayie Nader az Simin/A Separation, as a contested site where the discourses of gender and nation are constantly being negotiated. We suggest that the film’s unique cinematic language represents a significant contrast to stereotypical portrayals of motherhood in films. Also, by using transnational feminist cinema as a framework, we demonstrate the ways in which Farhadi engages with the relationship between gender and national belonging through a focus on borders, space, and place in contemporary Iran, offering a critique of both fundamentalist nationalist politics and neocolonial Western feminist assumptions. Résumé Dans cet article, nous explorons la compréhension du genre et de la maternité dans le film d’Asghar Farhadi, primé aux Oscars de 2011, Jodayie Nader az Simin/A Separation, comme un lieu contesté où les discours sur le genre et la nation sont en constante négociation. Nous suggérons que le langage cinématographique unique du film est un contraste considérable aux représentations stéréotypées de la maternité dans les films. De plus, dans le cadre du cinéma féministe transnational, nous démontrons les façons dont Farhadi explore la relation entre le genre et l’identité nationale en mettant l’accent sur les frontières, l’espace et le lieu en Iran contemporain, offrant une critique des politiques nationalistes fondamentales et des suppositions féministes occidentales néocoloniales

Passage through The Vagina Monologues: A College Anti-Violence Rite

Passage through The Vagina Monologues: A College Anti-Violence Rite examines the ways in which the audience at Oregon State University (OSU) responds to the annual production of the play in connection with the international college campaign to raise awareness about violence against women and to raise money for community organizations addressing the issue. OSU has produced the play since 2000 raising thousands of dollars for the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence in Corvallis, OR and sending part of the money raised through V-Day International to a selected spotlight group of women each year. The play, and its production each year, provide a unique look at the way this example of activist theatre represents (and challenges) feminist and performance theories. Using a mixed methods approach, I utilize quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data to explore what the production means to the audience, cast and producers of the show. Both sets of data show that the community finds great value in producing the show each year, even when it is perceived to function imperfectly

In Appreciation: Ronald A. Cass - Dean, Boston University School of Law 1990-2004

They say that first impressions are important, and Ron Cass was an important element of my first impression of Boston University School of Law. In December, 1983, fresh out of University of Chicago Law School and clerking for a federal judge, I attended the annual law school job fair, held at a hotel near O\u27Hare airport in Chicago. My appointment with Boston University was early on the first day, and the B.U. delegation consisted of Professors Ira (Chip) Lupu and Ron Cass, who was a relatively new member of the B.U. faculty. I was impressed immediately by the enthusiasm they exuded for the scholarly and teaching missions of the law school, and by the vision they charted for its future. I thought that even in that short half hour meeting I had established the basis for a long relationship with B.U., and that impression was confirmed when Ron chased me down at the elevator and invited me to lunch with Chip and him later that day. In my naive confidence, I immediately began canceling interviews with schools I considered less desirable than B.U. Little did I know that for more than twenty years, I would observe and even participate in Ron Cass\u27s efforts to realize the agenda he charted ever so briefly on that cold December morning in Chicago

'To live and die [for] Dixie': Irish civilians and the Confederate States of America

Around 20,000 Irishmen served in the Confederate army in the Civil War. As a result, they left behind, in various Southern towns and cities, large numbers of friends, family, and community leaders. As with native-born Confederates, Irish civilian support was crucial to Irish participation in the Confederate military effort. Also, Irish civilians served in various supporting roles: in factories and hospitals, on railroads and diplomatic missions, and as boosters for the cause. They also, however, suffered in bombardments, sieges, and the blockade. Usually poorer than their native neighbours, they could not afford to become 'refugees' and move away from the centres of conflict. This essay, based on research from manuscript collections, contemporary newspapers, British Consular records, and Federal military records, will examine the role of Irish civilians in the Confederacy, and assess the role this activity had on their integration into Southern communities. It will also look at Irish civilians in the defeat of the Confederacy, particularly when they came under Union occupation. Initial research shows that Irish civilians were not as upset as other whites in the South about Union victory. They welcomed a return to normalcy, and often 'collaborated' with Union authorities. Also, Irish desertion rates in the Confederate army were particularly high, and I will attempt to gauge whether Irish civilians played a role in this. All of the research in this paper will thus be put in the context of the Drew Gilpin Faust/Gary Gallagher debate on the influence of the Confederate homefront on military performance. By studying the Irish civilian experience one can assess how strong the Confederate national experiment was. Was it a nation without a nationalism

Governmental Institutions as Agents of Change: Rethinking American Political Development in the Early Republic, 1787-1835

During the past few years, a new generation of historians have turned their attention to the influence of law, public policy, and public administration in American life in the period between 1787 and 1835. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the contributions of these scholars in the hope that such an inquiry can further the ongoing interdisciplinary dialogue on American political development between historians, political scientists, and historical sociologists

Free-Trade Ideology and Transatlantic Abolitionism: A Historiography

Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2015. Author's accepted version deposited in accordance with SHERPA RoMEO guidelines. The definitive version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1053837215000103.This essay seeks to trace the many—and often conflicting—economic ideological interpretations of the transatlantic abolitionist impulse. In particular, it explores the contested relationship between free-trade ideology and transatlantic abolitionism, and highlights the understudied influence of Victorian free-trade ideology within the American abolitionist movement. By bringing together historiographical controversies from the American and British side, the essay calls into question long-standing conceptions regarding the relationship between free trade and abolitionism, and suggests new avenues for research