Pedagogical Eros in Modernity: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Jakob and Herr Benjamenta in Robert Walser's Jakob von Gunten: Ein Tagebuch

This thesis argues that in Robert Walser’s novel Jakob von Gunten: Ein Tagebuch (1909) a relationship of pedagogical Eros, or pederasty as redefined by the early 20th Century pedagogue Gustav Wyneken, arises between the protagonist, Jakob von Gunten, and the principal of his school, Herr Benjamenta. Ultimately, this literary project claims that Robert Walser’s novel Jakob von Gunten suggests that for people living in urban environments in modernity, capitaloriented norms and commercial lifestyle marginalize natural human behaviors – namely real boredom – and thereby inhibit and diminish their natural ability to form certain intimate interpersonal relationships. More simply put, this project will first make observations about life in the 20th Century, analyze them in terms of how they make certain types of relationships’ existence hard to come by, and then apply these analyses to the relationship between the characters Herr Benjamenta and Jakob von Gunten. This work then explores the dynamic between Herr Benjamenta and Jakob and investigates whether or not its existence in modern times is feasible. Because of the new standard of aesthetic experience in industrial capitalist society, which directly influences the norms of pedagogical experiences, this investigation then posits that Herr Benjamenta and Jakob von Gunten begin to experience Gustav Wyneken’s pre-modern concept of pedagogical Eros with one another, but that it is marginalized to such an extent by modern norms that its existence is ultimately not tolerated. As Walter Benjamin examined how the normalization of a daily onslaught of media in industrial capitalist society degrades man’s ability to form authentic relationships with works of art, this project applies this theory to the relationship between Jakob and Herr Benjamenta in Jakob von Gunten to demonstrate that homo-social intergenerational pedagogical relationships are marginalized because of everyday modern social norms. Just as the social conditions of an industrially productive society marginalize authentic aesthetic experiences, so too are uniquely intimate intergenerational educational relationships marginalized by these conditions insofar that they no longer are permitted to exist in the 20th Century because they are contrary to modern thought. While authentic aesthetic experiences, especially experiences of real boredom, were hard to come by in the early 20th Century, this work argues that the Institute Benjamenta creates a special space in which a pedagogy of idleness and ritualistic, almost occult, activities are performed in an ever increasingly rushed, mechanized, and artificialized world.Bachelor of Art

Application of the cellular oxidation biosensor to Toxicity Identification Evaluations for high-throughput toxicity assessment of river water

Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) is a useful method for the classification and identification of toxicants in a composite environment water sample. However, its extension to a larger sample size has been restrained owing to the limited throughput of toxicity bioassays. Here we reported the development of a high-throughput method of TIE Phase I. This newly developed method was assisted by the fluorescence-based cellular oxidation (CO) biosensor fabricated with roGFP2-expressing bacterial cells in 96-well microplate format. The assessment of four river water samples from Langat river basin by this new method demonstrated that the contaminant composition of the four samples can be classified into two distinct groups. The entire toxicity assay consisted of 2338 tests was completed within 12 h with a fluorescence microplate reader. Concurrently, the sample volume for each assay was reduced to 50 μL, which is 600 to 4700 times lesser to compare with conventional bioassays. These imply that the throughput of the CO biosensor-assisted TIE Phase I is now feasible for constructing a large-scale toxicity monitoring system, which would cover a whole watershed scale

Boston University Tanglewood Institute Benefit Concert: Solo and chamber performances by BUTI faculty artists, February 18, 2008

This is the concert program of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Benefit Concert on Wednesday, February 18, 2008 at 7:30 p.m., at the Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue. Works performed were Capricorn Concerto, op 21 by Samuel Barber, "Retratos" by Vinicio Meza, "Selections from Eight Pieces," op. 83 by Max Bruch, Piano Sonata No. 6, (in one movement) by Martin Amlin, Quartetto for four violins by Grazyna Bacewicz, "Cruda sorte! .... Gia so per pratica" from "L'Italiana in Algeri" by Gioachino Rossini, Araneske in C by Robert Schumann, "Ritual Fire Dance" by Manuel de Falla, "Quiet City" by Aaron Copland, "Four Shakespeare Songs," op. 30 by Roger Quilter, and Selections from Suite in G minor for Two Violins and Piano, op. 71 by Moritz Moszkowski. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Center for the Humanities Library Endowed Fund

Adopting the EEOC Deterrence Approach to the Adverse Employment Action Prong in a Prima Facie Case for Title VII Retaliation

Section 704(a) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees who oppose what they consider to be workplace discrimination from subsequent employer retaliation. The retaliation provision, however, does not delineate the types of discriminatory acts that an employer is prohibited from taking. Thus, the federal circuit courts of appeals are divided on what types of acts rise to the level of adverse action such that an employee plaintiff may establish a prima facie case of retaliation. The U.S. Supreme Court has stated that the purpose of the retaliation provision is to maintain unfettered access to Title VII\u27s remedial mechanisms. This Note argues that the most appropriate way to do this is to ensure that all retaliatory acts that would likely deter an employee from filing a discrimination charge or otherwise opposing discriminatory activity should be prohibited

Disinfection of Escherichia coli Bacteria Using Combination of Ozonation and Hydrodynamic Cavitation Method with Venturi Injector

This study brings out a disinfection process of bacteria Escherichia coli using a combination of ozonation and hydrodynamic cavitation method. Cavitation was generated using venturi injector, and three commercial Ozonator was used for generated ozone. Various configuration method was arranged to evaluate the performance of each kind method as well as a combination of them on the disinfection process. Effect of various flow rate (3, 5, and 7 LPM) and dosage of ozone (64.83, 108.18, and 135.04 mg/h) was investigated. Combination of ozonation and hydrodynamic cavitation (7 LPM and 135.04 mg/h dosage of ozone) showed the best performance with initial concentration is 1.49 x 105 CFU/mL; all bacteria were disinfected for 45 min. The results are better than the single hydrodynamic cavitation method (7 LPM) which had 21% remaining of bacteria, and all bacteria were disinfected on a single ozonation method (135.04 mg/h dosage of ozone) for 60 min