Vicente, F. L. (Org.) (2014). O Império da Visão: Fotografia no Contexto Colonial Português (1860-1960). Lisboa: Edições 70.

O Império da Visão: Fotografia no Contexto Colonial Português (1860-1960) developed out of a working group in Portugal titled..

Wendell Berry and the politics of homecoming: place, memory and time in Jayber Crow

This study examines the “politics of homecoming” appearing in author Wendell Berry’s novel Jayber Crow. The novel portrays the community of a small rural town, as narrated through the autobiography of its bachelor barber. The life-story of Jayber Crow is a journey of homecoming, progressing through three stages of nativity, estrangement, and restoration. These phases correspond and interact with philosophical motifs that can be traced throughout Berry’s corpus, but reaching their fullest expression in Jayber Crow. “Place” is the first motif, and facilitates a discussion of Berry’s contemporary agrarian vision of community. “Memory,” the second motif, becomes effective during the self’s estrangement, and enables its return to authentic community. Memory is discussed in the context of Berry’s critique of modernity. The final motif, “Time,” is important for its implications for membership, which is Berry’s ideal of the authentic community. This concept of membership appears throughout the essay, having both practical political, as well as metaphysical aspects important to the discussion. Ultimately, membership informs all political associations, as well as pointing to the proper relationship between man and creation. In this light, Berry’s politics of homecoming offers unique and bold insights into the nature and purpose of human society. His political vision is directed toward the restoration of health to the human soul, the reunification of authentic communities, and ultimately, the reconciliation of all mankind to the divine order of creation

The Political Imagination of Cormac McCarthy

This dissertation is a study in literature and politics and proceeds by tracing out the major political themes of McCarthy’s body of fiction and analyzing them toward their logical conclusions. The critical approach in this narrative-based anthropology looks at man first in profound isolation and then progresses through his novels in sequence, in an increasingly social context. McCarthy’s later fiction displays an increasingly affirmative view of the sacredness of human life and of the basic impulse toward community in even the most unreflective of characters; an essential characteristic of humans. To call any of McCarthy’s works a “political novel” would be absurd. Apocalyptic fiction has rarely, if ever, been overtly or consistently political in terms of its subject matter or intended audience. Rather, I find in McCarthy’s novels an artistic or poetic utterance that speaks to discomforting realities of experience while simultaneously sublimating the particularities of experience, however immediate, into a mythic plane. In this textual world, with its apocalyptic backdrop and mythical sublime, I construct an analytical framework for exploring the political ideas that appear and reappear throughout all of McCarthy’s work. Though interrelated, narrative, nature, history, witnessing, agency, and order are broad conceptual categories within which I discuss essential political questions. McCarthy’s political vision demonstrates the general failure of politics to do what politics is supposed to do. The political or sovereign power in McCarthy’s world may be said to attempt to provide for an ordered environment for human existence, even with nominal liberty. But it fails in any meaningful way to protect men from each other and from themselves or to advance any notion of the good life. Indeed, his reader is frequently left to ponder exactly what might even be said to constitute the good life in McCarthy’s fiction. Is this failure of the political the result of some deficiency in our laws or political institutions? No. The failure results from our gross misunderstanding of our place in the order of the world. It results from our inability to accept our fundamental loneliness in the world

The BooZi device’s effect on aroma compounds in distilled spirits

The BooZi is a commercially available flavor-modifying device that claims to remove the negative flavor agents (congeners) from a number of different types of distilled spirits and wines. SPME was utilized for the extraction of the volatile and semi-volatile compounds within each sample. The analysis of the compounds found in the samples following exposure to the BooZi device were analyzed using a GC-MS. The most significant changes regarding the aroma profile of the distilled spirits were noticeable following 96 hours of exposure. The BooZi device was shown to be effective in reducing the concentration of a number of compounds, including 21 compounds having statistically significant changes. It was determined that the reduction of the compounds is associated with the mass of the product and the exposure time. This study has shown the effectiveness of the BooZi device in reducing the negative congeners within the distilled spirts samples tested

Aperture Magazine. — “Platform Africa”

A new generation of African photographers and photography curators are on the rise. From Nigeria to South Africa to Sudan to Morocco, new photographic training centers and exhibition venues are opening. Photographers based all over Africa are not unaffected by migration and displacement. In spite of this, many choose to prioritize their search for valuable photographic experiences over efforts to redress Western audiences’ impressions of the state of photography in Africa. Digital platforms l..

Effect of questions used by psychiatrists on therapeutic alliance and adherence

Background Psychiatrists' questions are the mechanism for achieving clinical objectives and managing the formation of a therapeutic alliance – consistently associated with patient adherence. No research has examined the nature of this relationship and the different practices used in psychiatry. Questions are typically defined in binary terms (e.g. ‘open’ v. ‘closed’) that may have limited application in practice. Aims To undertake a detailed examination of the types of questions psychiatrists ask patients and explore their association with the therapeutic alliance and patient adherence. Method A coding protocol was developed to classify questions from 134 out-patient consultations, predominantly by syntactic form. Bivariate correlations with measures of patient adherence and the therapeutic alliance (psychiatrist-rated) were examined and assessed using generalised estimating equations, adjusting for patient symptoms, psychiatrist identity and amount of speech. Results Psychiatrists used only four of ten question types regularly: yes/no auxiliary questions, ‘wh-’ questions, declarative questions and tag questions. Only declarative questions predicted better adherence and perceptions of the therapeutic relationship. Conversely, ‘wh-’ questions – associated with positive symptoms – predicted poorer perceptions of the therapeutic relationship. Declarative questions were frequently used to propose an understanding of patients' experiences, in particular their emotional salience for the patient. Conclusions A refined defining of questioning practices is necessary to improve communication in psychiatry. The use of declarative questions may enhance alliance and adherence, or index their manifestation in talk, e.g. better mutual understanding. The function of ‘so’-prefaced declaratives, also used in psychotherapy, is more nuanced than negatively connotated ‘leading’ questions. Hearable as displays of empathy, they attend closely to patient experience, while balancing the tasks of assessment and treatment

Effects of Hunter Access on Hunting Season Elk Distributions in the Missouri River Breaks

Increasing harvest of adult female elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) is the primary management tool for curtailing elk population growth and reducing elk populations. However, this tool is not effective when elk are located on private properties that restrict hunter access to elk during the hunting season. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effects of hunter access and other landscape factors on elk resource selection during the archery and rifle hunting seasons in the Missouri River Breaks area. We sampled 46 adult female elk for 2-years in 2 adjacent populations: the Missouri River Breaks (MRB) population and the Larb Hills population. The MRB archery and rifle season elk population ranges were 97% accessible to hunters. Several large properties in the center of the Larb Hills range restricted or did not allow hunter access, and the archery and rifle season elk population ranges were 79% accessible to hunters. To quantify the effects of hunter access and other factors on elk selection of home ranges and elk selection of locations within their home range, we conducted a resource selection modeling exercise. Second-order population-level selection coefficients showed that elk in both MRB and Larb Hills selected home ranges in areas with no hunter access, and hunter access was the strongest predictor of second-order selection. Similarly, third-order population-level selection coefficients showed elk in both populations selected locations within their seasonal home range with no hunter access, and the strength of selection for locations with no hunter access was stronger in the archery season than the rifle season. However, individual models revealed that although third-order population-level selection for no hunter access was strong, only 43% of MRB elk selected for no hunter access during the archery season and 18% of elk selected for no hunter access during the rifle season. Additionally, the majority of all MRB elk locations (i.e., 68% of archery locations and 91% of rifle locations) occurred in areas accessible to hunters. In Larb Hills, individual models confirmed results of the population-level analysis, and 76% and 60% of elk selected for locations with no hunter access during the archery and rifle seasons. Even if hunter access is restricted or in a relatively small geographic area within an elk population range, elk refuge situations may have a disproportionate affect on elk distributions and prevent effective harvest of female elk to maintain elk populations at objective levels. Working cooperatively with stakeholders to minimize these situations is necessary for curtailing further elk population increases and maintaining a distribution of elk across public and private lands. If elk refuge situations cannot be resolved, stakeholders may need to choose between allowing some level of hunter access to harvest female elk or accepting higher numbers of elk, and associated property damage issues

Small data, online learning and assessment practices in higher education: a case study of failure?

In this paper we present an in-depth case study of a single student who failed an online module which formed part of a masters programme in Professional Education and Leadership. We use this case study to examine assessment practices in higher education in the online environment. In taking this approach we go against the current predilection for Big Data which has given rise to ‘learning analytics’, a data-intensive approach to monitoring learning. In particular we draw attention to the model of the learner produced by learning analytics and to issues of ‘dataveillance’ in online learning. We also use the case to examine assessment in higher education more broadly, exploring the tensions between the requirements for certification and the need for learning. We conclude that assessment practices in higher education may have more to do with ‘quality assurance’ and regulatory frameworks than with ‘enhancing the student experience’ and inculcating the qualities that mark out higher education as an ethical project

Criticality and the exercise of politeness in online spaces for professional learning

This research examines masters-accredited online professional learning aimed at fostering criticality and a disposition to collective professional autonomy. Drawing on a model of online learning conceived as a nexus of cognitive, social and teaching presence, we focus principally on the interaction between cognitive and social presence, and the ways in which written language mediates social presence in fostering a critical disposition to professional learning. A key concept for analysing this ispoliteness, predicated on Goffman's construct of ‘face’, i.e. the work individuals do in presenting themselves to others. We conclude that the ‘collective face wants’ of the online community led to the creation of an online space in which participants were supported by their peers to do ‘being critical’. The purpose of the analysis presented here is to contribute to theory around ‘social presence’ in order to further the understanding of collaborative learning in online spaces and hence to support the development of pedagogical practices aimed at facilitating this