The mezzo-soprano onstage and offstage: a cultural history of the voice-type, singers and roles in the French Third Republic (1870–1918)

This dissertation discusses the mezzo-soprano singer and her repertoire in the Parisian Opéra and Opéra-Comique companies between 1870 and 1918. Mezzo-sopranos are often cast in operas as secondary characters such as mothers, villains and teenaged boys, but they also have leading roles which can match the dramatic complexity of those of their soprano colleagues. Mezzo-soprano roles exist in all major operatic repertoires, but feature strongly in the French repertoire composed during the Third Republic (1870–1940). By analysing primary sources such as newspaper articles, contractual documents, correspondence, scores and images, this dissertation reconstructs the mezzo-soprano’s history in a pivotal time and geographical location, when mezzo-soprano-led works such as Bizet’s Carmen (1875), Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila (1877), and Massenet’s Werther (1892) were enshrined in the operatic repertoire. Focusing primarily on five mezzo-sopranos — Célestine Galli-Marié (1840–1905), Blanche Deschamps-Jehin (1857–1923), Meyriane Héglon (1868–1942), Marie Delna (1875–1932) and Lucy Arbell (1879–1947) — I discuss the Third-Republic mezzo-soprano in these state-funded opera companies. I begin by examining the mezzo-sopranos’ techniques and education, and the realities of their professional lives in the companies. Next, I discuss Carmen, Samson et Dalila and Werther in the context of contemporary issues in the Third Republic, and how the core mezzo-sopranos of this dissertation interpreted their richly-drawn leading roles. Building from this, I finally explore the strong personal ties that three mezzo-sopranos had to their roles — Galli-Marié to Carmen, Delna to Marion in Godard’s La Vivandière (1895) and Arbell to the title role in Massenet’s Cléopâtre (premiered 1914) — and their effect on a work’s performance history

Interview with Emma Stella Higgins Phelps - OH 785

This audio recording is of Emma Estella Higgins “Stella” Phelps (1887-1971). Stella was the wife of Shelton Joseph Phelps who was the third president of Winthrop College (1934-1943). Mrs. Phelps offers her recollections and experiences while she was at Winthrop from 1934 to 1943. As the “First Lady” at Winthrop, she hosted many gatherings at the President’s House, which included many influential and famous people, including Eleanor Roosevelt.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/oralhistoryprogram/1704/thumbnail.jp

The Queen\u27s Software: A Personal Exploration on Failure, Discovery and a Commitment to Not Knowing

I am interested in how failure, promiscuity, irrelevance and delight can live simultaneously in a process based space. Dancing lives in between knowing exactly what and not knowing at all. Dance is my middle, my way of being even when disjointed, discombobulated and on the brink of failure; dancing enchants my inner freak. I actively try to cultivate a process as a place of exploration, research and investigation with permission to change, evolve and develop into something very different from the initial starting place. How my process can live in between pleasure and function, meaningfulness and abstraction, investigation and direction is relevant in keeping a process complex and stimulating. Searching for what is revealed through process and not what is given to benefit the product is where I seek to depart from dissecting a work for its content. I am interested in work that raises questions, feelings and ponderings without clear answers. I don’t know what I want to make, but that does not mean I can’t find out along the way. It is here that I find vitality, it is here that I begin

The introduction of plastic and reconstructive surgery to the University of Glasgow undergraduate medical core curriculum

Misperceptions of plastic surgery remain common among medical students and the medical community. This creates barriers in recruitment to specialty and patient referral. Before this study, there was no formal plastic surgery teaching in University of Glasgow undergraduate medical core curriculum. A plastic surgery teaching pilot was implemented for fourth year students. Oncoplastic breast surgery was used as an example of gold standard multidisciplinary reconstructive surgery. Surveys collected data before and after provision of teaching across four parameters; identification of plastic surgery subspecialties, understanding of plastic surgery, opinion of the pilot and curriculum, career preferences and gender. The response rate was 57% (n=160). The most and least recognised subspecialties were burns (48% (n=75)) and perineal and lower limb reconstruction (0% (n=0)), respectively, with more students identifying aesthetic surgery (16% (n=26)) than hand (9% (n=15)) or skin cancer surgery (6% (n=9)). The majority (129 (81%)) thought plastic surgery was poorly represented in their curriculum and wanted further information (98 (61%)). Reported understanding of plastic surgery significantly improved (p≤0.00005). Those interested in surgical careers increased from 39% (n=63) to 41% (n=66) with more males than females reporting interest (p≤0.05). This study introduced plastic and reconstructive surgery into the undergraduate curriculum and led to further increased plastic surgery teaching. It improved student understanding, desire to gain more experience in the specialty and interest in surgical careers. Teaching students about subspecialties is vital to dispel misconceptions, ensure appropriate referrals and ignite interest in those with aptitude for surgical careers

The effects of room design on computer-supported collaborative learning in a multi-touch classroom.

While research indicates that technology can be useful for supporting learning and collaboration, there is still relatively little uptake or widespread implementation of these technologies in classrooms. In this paper, we explore one aspect of the development of a multi-touch classroom, looking at two different designs of the classroom environment to explore how classroom layout may influence group interaction and learning. Three classes of students working in groups of four were taught in the traditional forward-facing room condition, while three classes worked in a centered room condition. Our results indicate that while the outcomes on tasks were similar across conditions, groups engaged in more talk (but not more off-task talk) in a centered room layout, than in a traditional forward-facing room. These results suggest that the use of technology in the classroom may be influenced by the location of the technology, both in terms of the learning outcomes and the interaction behaviors of students. The findings highlight the importance of considering the learning environment when designing technology to support learning, and ensuring that integration of technology into formal learning environments is done with attention to how the technology may disrupt, or contribute to, the classroom interaction practices

Anoles & Drones: revealing controls on anole abundance and mapping sub-canopy thermal habitat using remote sensing, on the island of Utila, Honduras

In these times of rapid environmental change and species extinction, understanding the drivers and mechanisms governing species’ abundance is more important than ever. The goal of this thesis was to further our understanding of what drives variation in species’ abundance and microhabitat use through space, particularly in the context of rapid land cover and climate change, using the little explored anole fauna of the Honduran island of Utila. The work uncovered that when considering structural habitat, prey availability and the thermal environment, for the endemic Anolis bicaorum, thermal habitat quality and prey biomass both had positive direct effects on anole abundance. However, thermal habitat quality also influenced prey biomass, leading to a strong indirect effect on abundance. Consequently, the later part of this thesis focuses on the thermal environment and the use of unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellite remote sensing platforms for mapping thermal habitat quality and availability at scales relevant to the species. Thermal habitat quality for A. bicaorum was primarily a function of canopy density, measured as leaf area index (LAI), therefore this work combined indices of canopy cover and heterogeneity derived from UAV and WorldView-2 satellite imagery to map sub canopy operative temperature (Te). Results indicate that such methods as using remote sensing imagery, when coupled with air temperature measures, are a reasonable way of mapping Te continuously across space, allowing us to quantify the availability and spatial structure of the thermal environment, at spatial scales experienced by the organism. Lastly, I used WorldView-2 imagery and the proposed methods for mapping Te to quantify available thermal habitat for A. bicaorum on Utila across land cover and climate scenarios. This work indicates the need to determine controls and niche interactions on animal abundance and the importance quantifying these niche factors at relevant spatial scales to estimate species responses to land cover and climatic change

Weighted risk assessment of critical source areas for soil phosphorus losses through surface runoff mechanisms

This work was supported by the NERC QUADRAT DTP [grant number 2280708].Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Anoles & Drones: revealing controls on anole abundance and mapping sub-canopy thermal habitat using remote sensing, on the island of Utila, Honduras

In these times of rapid environmental change and species extinction, understanding the drivers and mechanisms governing species’ abundance is more important than ever. The goal of this thesis was to further our understanding of what drives variation in species’ abundance and microhabitat use through space, particularly in the context of rapid land cover and climate change, using the little explored anole fauna of the Honduran island of Utila. The work uncovered that when considering structural habitat, prey availability and the thermal environment, for the endemic Anolis bicaorum, thermal habitat quality and prey biomass both had positive direct effects on anole abundance. However, thermal habitat quality also influenced prey biomass, leading to a strong indirect effect on abundance. Consequently, the later part of this thesis focuses on the thermal environment and the use of unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellite remote sensing platforms for mapping thermal habitat quality and availability at scales relevant to the species. Thermal habitat quality for A. bicaorum was primarily a function of canopy density, measured as leaf area index (LAI), therefore this work combined indices of canopy cover and heterogeneity derived from UAV and WorldView-2 satellite imagery to map sub canopy operative temperature (Te). Results indicate that such methods as using remote sensing imagery, when coupled with air temperature measures, are a reasonable way of mapping Te continuously across space, allowing us to quantify the availability and spatial structure of the thermal environment, at spatial scales experienced by the organism. Lastly, I used WorldView-2 imagery and the proposed methods for mapping Te to quantify available thermal habitat for A. bicaorum on Utila across land cover and climate scenarios. This work indicates the need to determine controls and niche interactions on animal abundance and the importance quantifying these niche factors at relevant spatial scales to estimate species responses to land cover and climatic change