COVID, clay, and the digital: the role of digital media in pottery skill development during the COVID-19 pandemic in Britain

The COVID-19 lockdowns in Britain during 2020 and 2021 deprived people of access to studios and workshops in which we typically understand the learning and practising of skilled crafts to occur through working amongst others with materials. Recent literature on skill and craft has argued that it develops through social, participatory, and embodied processes in shared situated contexts. I argue that attention to the role of digital media within these ecologies is key to understanding how people continued to learn new craft skills during the pandemic. Drawing on Material Engagement Theory and the concept of digital materiality from digital sensory anthropology, I develop a case study around people practising pottery in Britain during the pandemic. I demonstrate how engagements with digital media are central to skill development, highlighting how the ‘digital’ and ‘terrestrial’ cannot be disentangled, and thus emphasising the importance of attending to the total hybrid learning ecology

Martin Scorsese's Divine Comedy

Catherine O’Brien draws on the structure of Dante’s Divine Comedy to explore Scorsese’s feature films from Who’s that knocking at my door (1967-69) to Silence (2016). In Dante’s poem in 100 cantos, the Pilgrim is guided by the poet Virgil down through the circles of Hell in Inferno; he then climbs the steep Mountain of the Seven Deadly Sins in Purgatory; and he finally encounters God in Paradise. Embracing this popular analogy, this study envisions Martin Scorsese as a contemporary Dante, with his filmic oeuvre offering the dimensions of a cinematic Divine Comedy. Martin Scorsese’s Divine Comedy is the first full-length study to focus on the trajectory of faith and doubt from 1967-2016, taking very seriously the oft-quoted words of the director himself: ‘My whole life has been movies and religion. That’s it. Nothing else.’ Films discussed include GoodFellas, Casino, Taxi Driver and Mean Streets, as well as the more recent Wolf of Wall Street and Silence

Happiness and Sustainability Together at Last! Sustainable Happiness

Sustainable happiness is “happiness that contributes to individual, community and/or global well-being without exploiting other people, the environment or future generations” (O’Brien, 2010a, n.p.). It underscores the interrelationship between human flourishing and ecological resilience. At the national and international levels, sustainable happiness has considerable relevance to the United Nations’ resolution on happiness and well-being (United Nations, 2011). Applications of sustainable happiness are discussed, with implications for fostering healthy, sustainable lifestyles and communities. The active debate about how to transform education to meet 21st-century learning needs ranges from suggestions that will merely tweak existing models through modernization, to calls for reimagining the role of education. As educators consider the future ofeducation and the various visions that are promoted—such as 21st-century learning, Health Promoting Schools programs, social and emotional learning, and entrepreneurship education—the concept of sustainable happiness can contribute to the development of a unified vision that fosters well-being for all, forever (Hopkins, 2013). The sustainable happinesspre-service teacher education course described in this paper gives a glimpse of the benefits of doing so. The paper argues that sustainable happiness represents the evolution in happiness that is needed to set the world on a more sustainable trajectory. This makes sustainable happiness indispensable for new visions of education in the 21st century.Keywords: sustainable happiness; well-being; sustainability; education; 21st-centurylearnin

The Greek sources of the new literary humanism

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Eliminating Barriers to Youth Sport in Pitt County

This case study provides an opportunity for students to better understand barriers faced by low-income families participating in local sport opportunities and then offer creative solutions in an attempt to alleviate some barriers and create a more inclusive sports community. This case focuses on the reoccurring struggle that the Greenville Recreation and Parks Department (GRPD) faces when trying to increase diversity in youth sports programs and create inclusive programs for all youth, regardless of socioeconomic status. GRPD’s Development Intern, Sarah, identifies issues with the current financial assistance program that GRPD offers as well as collects feedback from community members detailing community needs that are not being met. This case provides an opportunity for students to: 1) examine how sports organizations unintentionally create barriers for some members of the community; 2) develop inclusive systems in attempt to counteract identified barriers; 3) find innovative ways to eliminate barriers to youth sport participation

A workbook of graphs for the elementary school

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University, 1948. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

The history of savings bank life insurance in Massachusetts

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityBecause savings bank life insurance in Massachusetts has rendered such an extensive service to the citizens of the Commonwealth, a study of the system is of both economic and social significance. Although practically everyone is familiar with life insurance as such, the form of protection offered by savings bank insurance departments is not fully appreciated by the citizens of the State. The relationship between the savings bank life insurance system and the private life insurance companies is similar but because the former has been able to issue policies at a lower premium rate, it is worthy of careful analysis. The savings bank life insurance system has fulfilled its original purpose of providing the working class with an opportunity of purchasing insurance at a minimum cost. It has encouraged thrift, and therefore, has served a great economic and social need to the residents of the Commonwealth. Lower premium rates have been available to savings bank insurance policyholders because of lower operating expense and a higher earned income

Martin Scorsese's Divine Comedy

Catherine O’Brien draws on the structure of Dante’s Divine Comedy to explore Scorsese’s feature films from Who’s that knocking at my door (1967-69) to Silence (2016). In Dante’s poem in 100 cantos, the Pilgrim is guided by the poet Virgil down through the circles of Hell in Inferno; he then climbs the steep Mountain of the Seven Deadly Sins in Purgatory; and he finally encounters God in Paradise. Embracing this popular analogy, this study envisions Martin Scorsese as a contemporary Dante, with his filmic oeuvre offering the dimensions of a cinematic Divine Comedy. Martin Scorsese’s Divine Comedy is the first full-length study to focus on the trajectory of faith and doubt from 1967-2016, taking very seriously the oft-quoted words of the director himself: ‘My whole life has been movies and religion. That’s it. Nothing else.’ Films discussed include GoodFellas, Casino, Taxi Driver and Mean Streets, as well as the more recent Wolf of Wall Street and Silence

Innovation and evolution: challenges and opportunities for 21st century academic and research libraries

A report from the inaugural CONUL (Consortium of National & University Libraries) conference held in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone, June 3rd & 4th 2015