The project of reconciliation: journalists and religious activists in Polish-German relations, 1956-1972

My dissertation, The Project of Reconciliation, analyzes the impact of a transnational network of journalists, intellectuals, and publishers on the postwar process of reconciliation between Germans and Poles. In their foreign relations work, these non-state actors preceded the Polish-West German political relations that were established in 1970. The dissertation has a twofold focus on private contacts between these activists, and on public discourse through radio, television and print media, primarily its effects on political and social change between the peoples. My sources include the activists’ private correspondences, interviews, and memoirs as well as radio and television manuscripts, articles and business correspondences. Earlier research on Polish-German relations is generally situated firmly in a nation-state framework in which the West German, East German or Polish context takes precedent. My work utilizes international relations theory and comparative reconciliation research to explore the long-term and short-term consequences of the discourse and the concrete measures which were taken during the 1960s to end official deadlock and nationalist antagonisms and to overcome the destructive memories of the Second World War dividing Poles and Germans. Analyzing early Polish-German relations within the conceptual framework of reconciliation after violent conflict, I distinguish between those developments that fitted within reconciliation models and the political narrative which the actors developed and disseminated to explain and justify their position on Polish-German relations. The positive aspects included the cross-border contacts established and the challenge to national stereotypes and myths. On the other hand, a statist focus on improving the relations with the communist government in Poland rather than the people, and a limitation of the dialogue to intellectual and media elites and political circles meant that in 1970, and in 1990, when reconciliation was declared accomplished, many layers of society remained excluded and isolated from this master narrative of success. My research strives to emphasize the silences, and give voice to the marginalized minorities and to emphasize that media, intellectuals and politicians continually face the task of integrating these forgotten aspects into any grand narratives of reconciliation

Melt and Glassy Dynamics in Complex Polymer Systems: Miscible Blends and Star-Shaped Polymer Films.

Considerable effort has been given towards using polymers as active materials in many types of organic devices such as photovoltaics, active membranes and sensors as well as drug delivery. A number of the applications of polymeric materials involve thin film geometries; therefore the role of interfacial interactions has garnered a lot of interest of late. However, the influence of interfaces on the physical properties of polymer films in not well understood. One such property is physical aging, which leads to a time-dependence of many properties, including: increased brittleness, enhanced modulus and reduced permeability. Therefore, there is a strong technological and scientific importance to understanding the underlying phenomenon behind this process. In this dissertation three classes of polymers are used in order to investigate the role of interfaces on the dynamic properties of polymer thin films: (1) glassy structural relaxation in star-shaped polymers, (2) free surface dynamics of miscible A/B polymer/polymer blends, and (3) polymer nanocomposites. The structural relaxation rate of polystyrene in the bulk and micron thick films is strongly influenced by the chain architecture. Due to the decreased conformational freedom, and entropic constraints of the chains grafted to a central core exhibited by the star-shaped molecules, the stars exhibit up to a 40% reduction in the relaxation rate relative to their linear counterparts. In the case of supported thin films, the thickness dependence of the structural relaxation rate can be described with a universal model that accounts for to the temperature dependence of the structural relaxation rate as well as the distribution in local Tg throughout the film. In a miscible A/B polymer blend and miscible blend nanocomposites, the local surface composition can vastly differ from the bulk. The lower surface tension of the B component will lead to a surface excess. Because of the differences in the composition near the surface, and the reduced friction coefficient in the vicinity of a particle, the polymer chain dynamics near that interface can be vastly different from that of the bulk. All of these findings have implications in the processing and long term implementation of polymer films in many different applications.PHDMacromolecular Science & EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107054/1/bfrieber_1.pd

Implementing Fee-Based ICM Services

Since 1993, a group of agrichemical dealers and public sector agencies, including Iowa State University Extension (ISUE) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), have been exploring the potential for fee-based crop management services in northwest Iowa. The Agribusiness Association of Iowa helped to bring the public and private sector groups together. In 1995, funding from USDA, and later also U.S. EPA through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, established the Northwest Iowa Agribusiness ICM Project. The objective of the project is to demonstrate comprehensive, fee-based ICM services by dealers, ideally as separate profit centers. All dealers in a nine-county area of northwest Iowa are eligible to work with the project, which provides both agronomic and business planning assistance

Integrated Crop Management Services Selling Advice for Profit

Some progressive Iowa dealers are developing comprehensive, fee-based integrated crop management (ICM) services that increase profitability for their own businesses as well as for their customers\u27 operations. More commonly, dealers provide crop management services free in support of product sales, but these services are limited in scope and generally involve diagnosing and reacting to problems. In contrast, the principal focus of fee-based ICM services is on field-by-field planning from a systems perspective (Brown et al, 1995). ICM aims to manage (avoid or control) nutrient and pest problems, if possible, not just rescue the crop once a problem has occurred. ICM services also provide recommendations on manure management, timing, varieties, equipment and other aspects of the client\u27s operation where profit-limiting variables can be identified and refined

Planning a Profitable ICM Service

For agricultural dealers, there has never been a better time to introduce fee-based crop consulting services. Precision equipment and genetic technology have made new resources available for high yields, but they have also increased the complexity of information management and decision-making in all areas of crop production. The situation has created an opportunity for dealers as well as independent consultants to profitably market services. Public sector demonstration projects conducted under the leadership of Iowa State University Agronomy and Agronomy Extension - such as the Butler County ICM Project, an element of the Iowa Integrated Farm Management Demonstration - have documented that a comprehensive integrated crop management (ICM) service program returns $8 to over$30/A./yr from management improvements

Multi-context Use of Language: Toward Effective Thinking and Planning for Curriculum

The flexible, multi-contextual use of language is essential to integrated learning and thinking. Likewise, learning and thinking in an integrated way is essential to multi-dimensional teaching. This study examines the ways pre-service secondary teachers define their subjects. Students enrolled in a secondary reading methods course were asked to provide multiple definitions for a predetermined list of critical vocabulary terms common to multiple disciplines. We used these definitions to measure participants’ level of sophistication with regard to the multi-context use of language. Participants’ responses illuminated implications for curriculum development in secondary schools including the need for models for pre- and in-service teachers of authentic integrated curriculum

Using professional atandards : assessing work integrated learning in initial teacher education

All Australian teacher education programs must include practical experience--the practicum. It is a critical part of learning to become a teacher.  One of the major challenges in initial teacher education is to provide good quality assessment of the practicum.  Assessing the practicum is filled with tension for both the individual supervisor as well as the pre-service teacher. In 2011 the Australian National Professional Standards for Teachers were established.  On completion of teacher education programs, graduate teachers will have gained the knowledge and practice to meet the seven national standards.  For teacher preparation programs, the successful implementation of the standards will rely on the opportunities for preservice teachers to gather evidence of achieving the standards. This project focussed specifically on evidence of achievements of these standards through assessment practices during practicum.The overall aim of this project was to enhance the academic and school-based teacher educators\u27 and preservice teachers\u27 capacities and understandings of assessing the practicum.  To achieve this aim, four outcomes were developed to provide professional leaning for improving the assessment practices of the practicum: a website resource, a collaborative partnership process, a professional learning model (PLM) and a developmental \u27inventory\u27 of evidence of achievement of the first five national standards.  The website resource provides materials and activities for staff involved in the design of professional experience in initial teacher education programs, to work with partner schools and preservice teachers to facilitate high quality supervision and assessment in practicum sites.  The collaborateive partnership process used for achieving these soutcomes -- communities of reflective practitioners--is integral to the professional learning focus of the project.  It guides the use of the resource in future teacher education sites of practice.  The professional learning model and website materials emphasise the critical role that evidence-informed judgements play at school sites in learning and assessment of future teachers