Art, Artifact, Archive: African American Experiences in the Nineteenth Century

Angelo Scarlato’s extraordinary and vast collection of art and artifacts related to the Civil War, and specifically to the Battle of Gettysburg, the United States Colored Troops, slavery and the African American struggle for emancipation, citizenship and freedom has proved to be an extraordinary resource for Gettysburg College students. The 2012-14 exhibition in Musselman Library’s Special Collections, curated by Lauren Roedner ’13, entitled Slaves, Soldiers, Citizens: African American Artifacts of the Civil War Era and its corresponding catalogue provided a powerful and comprehensive historical narrative of the period. This fall, students in my course at Gettysburg College “Art and Public Policy”—Diane Brennan, Maura Conley, Abigail Conner, Nicole Conte, Victoria Perez-Zetune, Savannah Rose, Kaylyn Sawyer, Caroline Wood and Zoe Yeoh—selected additional objects of material and print culture from Angelo’s private collection and drew from Lauren’s expertise for the exhibition Art, Artifact, Archive: African American Experiences in the Nineteenth Century to investigate public representations of a newly freed population as well as their more personal perspectives. [excerpt]https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/artcatalogs/1015/thumbnail.jp

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

In the Lab

Oil on Canvas From the artist: Part of an ongoing series of fantasy figures in \u27human\u27 landscapes. I have always been interested in the Faerie world, and drawing and painting it has been a constant in my work. I am also very interested in sustainable living and recycling practices in our world of modernization and mass production, and I wonder what faeries – who I view as spirits of the natural world – would think of our lack of home agriculture and self-sustainability, global deforestation, and the huge amounts of waste that we produce. A central theme of this series explores a few key hypothetical questions: if faeries moved in to our homes and communities, how would they live our lives? What would they change? What would they keep? This piece was based on the General Chemistry Lab at Gettysburg College.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/studiostu/1033/thumbnail.jp

Irish Landscape: Pinguicula grandiflora

Oil on Canvas From the artist: This landscape is of Ring of Kerry, Ireland. Its foreground contains an overemphasized Irish wildflower species, which is labelled like a botanical illustration.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/studiostu/1031/thumbnail.jp

Glassware with Flowers

Oil on Canvas From the artist: As both a scientist and an artist, I attempted to combine both these subjects in this painting. I set up a still life from lab glassware using one of these to contain a more typical still life subject – flowers.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/studiostu/1032/thumbnail.jp