Forgetting to Remember: Multidirectional Communities in Caryl Phillips’s In the Falling Snow

This article reads In the Falling Snow (2009) as an examination of Anglo-centric multicultural diaspora that incorporates new European migration. The reading is framed by Michael Rothberg’s theory of multidirectional memory. Using Rothberg in this way allows for a rendering of English subjectivity which encounters and draws from multiple transcultural referents. Through the problematic figure of Keith, Caryl Phillips’s novel explores the competing spheres of influence, migratory and otherwise, that lead to contemporary articulations of Englishness. Furthermore, the article posits that In the Falling Snow recasts familiar diasporic tropes and therefore expands the limits of cultural memory in critically unfamiliar and even vitally post-racial ways. The narrative achieves this in part through its inclusion of Eastern European migrants, whose experiences of England are circumscribed by a narrow view of “Englishness” at the community level. The novel therefore indexes the vexed contemporary relationship with multiculturalism, while simultaneously foregrounding the deeply rooted interconnectivity between England and its migrant communities.  By reading the novel through the lens of Michael Rothberg’s theory of multidirectional memory, the article identifies a multidirectional narrative consciousness which allows for complex renderings of iterations of Englishness

Functional neuroimaging of post-mortem tissue: lithium-pilocarpine seized rats express reduced brain mass and proportional reductions of left ventral cerebral theta spectral power

AbstractStructural imaging tools can be used to identify neuropathology in post-mortem tissue whereas functional imaging tools including quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) are thought to be restricted for use in living subjects. We are not aware of any study which has used electrophysiological methods decades after death to infer pathology. We therefore attempted to discriminate between chemically preserved brains which had incurred electrical seizures and those that did not using functional imaging. Our data indicate that modified QEEG technology involving needle electrodes embedded within chemically fixed neural tissue can be used to discriminate pathology. Forty (n = 40) rat brains preserved in ethanol-formalin-acetic acid (EFA) were probed by needle electrodes inserted into the dorsal and ventral components of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. Raw microvolt potentials were converted to spectral power densities within classical electroencephalographic frequency bands (1.5 Hz to 40 Hz). Brain mass differences were shown to scale with left hemispheric ventral theta-band spectral power densities in lithium-pilocarpine seized rats. This relationship was not observed in non-seized rats. A conspicuous absence of pathological indicators within dorsal regions as inferred by microvolt fluctuations was expected given the known localization of post-ictal damage in lithium-pilocarpine seized rats. Together, the data demonstrate that post-mortem neuroimaging is both possible and potentially useful as a means to identify neuropathology without structural imaging techniques or dissection

Between the black Atlantic and Europe: Emerging paradigms in contemporary black British writing.

My thesis explores the emerging concerns of contemporary black British writing. I index the move towards a non-normative black British aesthetic through my reading of the twenty-first century novels of Diana Evans, Bernardine Evaristo, Caryl Phillips and Zadie Smith. I hypothesise that the works interrogated in the thesis offer a break from the generational model of black British writing, and in so doing shift the trajectories of black British writing away from the triangulated model of Paul Gilroy’s ‘black Atlantic’. I argue that the novels posit a non-normative black British aesthetic which draws upon multidirectional cultural trajectories. Locating this non-normative aesthetic in relation to iterations of Englishness allow my readings of the novels to uncover a newly emergent writing of black British selfhood which engages with transcultural and non-diasporic modes of cosmopolitan belonging. I identify a positioning of Europe as an alternative dwelling place which allows for new trajectories of travel for the black British subject. Subsequently, this thesis interrogates the implications for collective cultural histories, narrative and memory in which critical theories of cosmopolitanism and multidirectional memory intervene. I hypothesise a transformative energy within contemporary black British fiction as it moves on from the language of identity, crosses the boundaries of nationhood and memory, and offers a new vocabulary for the articulation of cultural belonging and ‘Englishness’

More than just trees: Assessing reforestation success in tropical developing countries

Rural communities in many parts of the tropics are dependent of forests for their livelihoods and for environmental services. Forest resources in the tropics have declined rapidly over the past century and therefore many developing countries in the tropics have reforestation programs. Although reforestation is a long-term process with long-term benefits, existing evaluations of the success of these programs tends to focus on short-term establishment success indicators. This paper presents a review of reforestation assessment that highlights the need to not only consider short-term establishment success, but also longer-term growth and maturation success, environmental success and socio-economic success. In addition, we argue that reforestation assessment should not be based on success indicators alone, but should incorporate the drivers of success, which encompasses an array of biophysical, socio-economic, institutional and project characteristics. This is needed in order to understand the reasons why reforestation projects succeed or fail and therefore to design more successful projects in future. The paper presents a conceptual model for reforestation success assessment that links key groups of success indicators and drivers. This conceptual model provides the basis for a more comprehensive evaluation of reforestation success and the basis for the development of predictive systems-based assessment models. These models will be needed to better guide reforestation project planning and policy design and therefore assist rural communities in tropical developing countries to alleviate poverty and achieve a better quality of life

Pure Architecture

This thesis began in the pursuit for an alternative way of conceiving architecture that is meaningful and relevant to how we currently construct identity. The thesis then looks at how contemporary architectural theorists and practitioners such as Rem Koolhaas, Kersten Geers and David Van Severen, and Valerio Olgiati are exploring the ideas of pure and non-referential architecture. The thesis situates itself in the period after post-modernism, where architecture can liberate itself from symbolism, uniqueness and extra architectural ideas to produce pure form. This project stands behind the notion that architecture can operate autonomously from its context. As experience of form is the most fundamental engagement with a viewer, pure architecture, in its essence, is concerned with form, space, and their experience at the exclusion of all else.Applied Science, Faculty ofArchitecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School ofUnreviewedGraduat

Benjamin D. Walsh: Nineteenth century defender of Darwinian evolutionary theory

Honors College, Washington State UniversityReive, Shannon Benjamin D. Walsh: nineteenth century defender of Darwinian evolutionary theory,Washington State University Honors College thesis, Fall 2005, 33 p

Analysis of chemical contaminants in tissue samples from two species of fish

Interaction of marine species with chemical pollutants within the marine ecosystem is extremely complex and difficult to interpret. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the effect of an exposure of treated municipal wastewater on winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) and striped bass (Morone saxatilis). Fish from two locations were exposed to different concentrations of wastewater. Half of the fish from each tank were sacrificed, and the remaining fish were given a depuration period in unpolluted water. Tissue samples were composited, soxhlet extracted and passed through a florisil cleanup column. Gas chromatography, was used to analyze for hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene, Aroclor 1254, bis-(ethylhexyl) phthalate, and di-n-octyl phthalate. The results show widespread distribution of the contaminant chemicals in the samples, typical of bioaccumulation and bioconcentration processes within the marine ecosystem. The levels of chemicals found in the samples were comparable to other studies of similar urban estuaries through out the United States

The Effects of Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy on Mindfulness, Self-Reflection, Insight, and Psychological Well-Being in Veterans

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the effects of equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) on mindfulness, self-reflection, insight, and psychological well-being in an adult veteran population with mental health concerns. Specific aims were (1) to determine the effect of EAP on mindfulness, self-reflection, insight, and psychological well-being in veterans with psychiatric diagnoses or mental health concerns; and (2) to describe the relationship of the sociodemographic characteristics (age, ethnicity, gender, education level, income, and deployment history) to mindfulness, self-reflection, insight, and psychological well-being of adult veterans with mental health concerns engaged in EAP. Smith’s (1999) theory of unitary caring provided the guiding theoretical and conceptual framework for the study. A convenience sampling design was used to recruit 18 participants from a South Florida therapeutic riding center and an online veterans’ forum. The sample consisted of adult veterans ages 18 years and older who had mental health concerns and/or diagnoses. Assignment to the EAP group (n = 9) was determined by the therapy center director based on session days and times and participant availability. The comparison group (n = 9) received their treatment as usual. Paired t-tests for the EAP group showed a statistically significant increase for engaging in self-reflection. Mean scores for all variables except insight demonstrated an increase from pre to post, but did not reach statistical significance; however, the test was underpowered. The main ANCOVA analysis results supported significantly greater increases in mindfulness, the awareness subscale for mindfulness, self-reflection, the engaging in self-reflection subscale, and psychological well-being for the treatment group, compared to the comparison group. There were no significant demographic predictors of mindfulness, self-reflection, insight, and well-being. Additional analysis supported that mindfulness and insight were correlated with well-being in this study, whereas self-reflection was not. Neither deployment history, years since discharge, nor age were found to be moderators of the relationship between self-reflection and wellbeing. Future studies using larger veteran and other populations, non-English speaking participants, biomarkers, and measures of PTSD and dissociation could offer further insight into the efficacy of EAP as a therapeutic modality. Examination of whether increased mindfulness as a result of EAP mediates well-being is also indicated

Crossing boundaries: postmodern realities in the selected works of Haruki Murakami and Rana Dasgupta

published_or_final_versionEnglish StudiesMasterMaster of Art