Integrating Digital Humanities Projects with Undergraduate Courses in Area Studies: 2 Case Studies

Integrating digital humanities projects into undergraduate instruction in area studies classes can further both instructors' and students' engagement with the material, resulting in final projects that are useful to both researchers and students. These projects increase the amount of area studies-related information and scholarship available online, can be shared with professors' colleagues and added to their portfolios, and serve to expose students to high level writing requirements while increasing their knowledge of trends and tools in digital scholarship. This poster presents two case studies of undergraduate courses in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies, with examples of the final digital humanities projects; input on the roles of faculty members, a librarian, and students as collaborators; and takeaways of positive and negative aspects of creating digital humanities projects in this way. Both projects shown--the Mapping the Avant-Garde and Yugoslav Punk sites--are visually appealing, incorporating elements such as network maps, archival images, and custom-created navigational interfaces. The poster also addresses issues of copyright and student confidentiality that can arise while doing such work.UT Librarie

Editorial: Responsibilities of Scientists--A Closer Look

From a reading of today\u27s lay and scientific press, one must conclude that scientists are most important people. And, indeed, the signs of their beneficence are on every hand--rapid travel, instant communication, globe-encircling rockets, moon probes, food surpluses, longer life spans, and all manner of creature comforts which by now are taken for granted. Verily, ours is the age of scientific marvels and we are in the debt of those who have made it possible

Decoding visual object categories in early somatosensory cortex

Neurons, even in the earliest sensory areas of cortex, are subject to a great deal of contextual influence from both within and across modality connections. In the present work, we investigated whether the earliest regions of somatosensory cortex (S1 and S2) would contain content-specific information about visual object categories. We reasoned that this might be possible due to the associations formed through experience that link different sensory aspects of a given object. Participants were presented with visual images of different object categories in 2 fMRI experiments. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed reliable decoding of familiar visual object category in bilateral S1 (i.e., postcentral gyri) and right S2. We further show that this decoding is observed for familiar but not unfamiliar visual objects in S1. In addition, whole-brain searchlight decoding analyses revealed several areas in the parietal lobe that could mediate the observed context effects between vision and somatosensation. These results demonstrate that even the first cortical stages of somatosensory processing carry information about the category of visually presented familiar objects

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LAND TENURE, PROPERTY BOUNDARIES, AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION: EXAMPLES FROM BOLIVIA AND NORWAY

This paper compares and contrasts patterns of land tenure, property boundaries, and dispute resolution regarding property using examples from two diverse social and economic regions: Bolivia and Norway. The goal of the paper is essentially a comparative one. By placing the examples of Bolivia and Norway side by side, the authors hope to shed light on common strategies while recognizing the diversity to be found in the ways that people relate to land. It is hoped that readers will be able to compare the material here with examples from other regions. By using data based on field research and related methods from two regions starkly distinguished from each other by language, socioeconomic levels, political histories, and extent of integration into world markets, the authors present a picture of how people interact with their bounded environments and the various meanings that they construct through such environments. Norway has one of the highest standards of living in the world and is in many ways a model of economic and social efficiency; Bolivia, by contrast, is characterized by extreme ecological zones and has struggled for most of its 170 years of independence to both maintain its population at the most basic of levels and to achieve social stability. Yet, despite these significant historical and contemporary differences, the ways in which people relate to land in both countries are often remarkably similar, particularly in rural areas.Land tenure -- Bolivia, Land tenure -- Norway, Dispute resolution -- Bolivia, Dispute resolution -- Norway, Land conflicts -- Bolivia, Land conflicts -- Norway, Land Economics/Use,

Contaminant screening of osprey eggs in Casco Bay, Maine 2009 Field Season

Starting in May 2009, BioDiversity Research Institute (BRI) expanded upon the 2007 and 2008 broad-based contaminant study on Maine birds, measuring both historical and emerging chemicals. Out of the 23 species studied in the first two years, we determined that osprey (Pandion haliaetus) foraging in Casco Bay required additional study in 2009. We selected osprey because they act as bioidicators of the marine habitat. The compounds we analyzed in ten eggs from Casco Bay were mercury (results pending), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCs). The results in this report also include the six osprey eggs we analyzed in 2007

The Relationship between Physical Qualities and Activity Profiles of International Women’s Sevens Players

Due to its inclusion in the recent Olympic Games, women’s Rugby Sevens has experienced a marked increase in popularity. As a result of the sports’ emergent nature the player profile and performance demands of women’s Rugby Sevens remain poorly understood. Rugby Sevens is a modified game of 15-a-side Rugby Union, played under similar laws but with fewer players per side and for less total game time. The sport is played in a tournament format with multiple games played in one day and across a 2 to 3-day period. Rugby Sevens is one of the few true contact sports played by females and is therefore unique in this regard. A lack of research into the specific demands of the game and physical qualities of the players means that the majority of training decisions for the sport are based on research performed on males playing either Rugby Sevens or other Rugby codes. As sex differences specific to elite sport performance are known to exist, basing training prescriptions for females on male-specific research requires a number of assumptions to be made, which is unfair and potentially inappropriate to female athletes of any playing ability. Based on the identified gaps in the literature, the purpose of this thesis was to first characterize 1) the physical qualities of players; and 2) the game demands of international women's Rugby Sevens; and 3) to then examine the interaction between these aspects of the game. To achieve these aims, it was important in Study 1 to first identify physical qualities that discriminated playing rank in women’s Rugby Sevens. Then, in Study 2, the characteristics of game activity and physiological demands of international women's Rugby Sevens were profiled and further investigated for how these demands changed in relation to key contextual factors such as: game half, game outcome, game margin, tournament day and playing position. Study 3 examined game demands in further detail specifically relating to the tactical phases of play; attack and defense. The interaction between tactical phase demands and game outcome was examined in order to profile successful style of play. Finally, Study 4 examined the relationships among physical qualities, game demands and contextual factors with the aim of identifying the physical qualities important for success at the international level. The international game of women’s Rugby Sevens is a physically demanding game, requiring athletes to run at and maintain high-speeds while under significant physiological strain. High- speed running ability across games and relative to minutes played was positively related to a number of contextual factors including game half, game outcome, game margin and opponent rank. High-speed running demands were consistently greater in defense than attack. To support the demands of the international game, women’s Rugby Sevens players are required to have well- developed strength, aerobic fitness, speed and repeated-sprint abilities. The development of these physical qualities, which were also found to underpin in-game activity and physiological profiles, will help to support successful game outcomes. Collectively, this thesis has provided a foundation and pragmatic level of knowledge on elite performance in women’s Rugby Sevens. Specifically, the development of physical qualities that support high-speed running ability may best prepare and maintain women for international-level competition in Rugby Sevens

Humor and allegory

This series of works proposes the merging of aesthetic interests that undermine the self-seriousness of the artist and the idea of labor in painting. Painting’s slowing of time can hopefully extinguish the peripheral noise of the outside world and provide space for thought. These paintings propose different ways to help the viewer understand visual depth, narrative, and formal decision-making. The optical depth of red, the spatial depth of glazed paint, and the spiritual depth of the figure can provide multiple meanings and possibilities. Another metaphor for the development of this series of paintings would be one comedian telling a joke to another comedian, that comedian telling the same joke to another comedian, and so on, until over time the joke loses its original punch line. This work is in conversation with Lester Johnson, Peter Saul, Carol Dunham, Jim Nutt, Gladys Nielson, Francis Picabia, Medieval art, William Hogarth, Andy Kaufman, and Franz Kafka. These artists strategized to make work based on scholarship while also maintaining humor throughout their careers. Compositionally they meticulously built their narratives around geometry or set pieces that also served a satirical function. Others pushed the boundaries between figuration and abstraction by distorting the human form. These artists are figurative artists, but they have an affinity for inventing compositions that use the entire canvas, often bending the limits of space and form. Saul, Dunham, Nutt, and Nielson all engage with grotesque humor, emphasizing the middle class, banal existence of their characters. An airbrush, in particular, is primarily used for commercial use such as illustration, graffiti, tattoos, touch ups, etc. I find the disparity between the high expectations of stretched canvas and the faux-ness of an airbrush to be comical, but also disruptive. In opposition to the heavy art historical origins of painting, airbrush provides a levity and superficiality reflective of our contemporary sensibilities. It provides tactility as a substitute for the immersion of Netflix. Painting’s tactility, surface, physicality and color are real. To look, to scan, to observe, to locate the visual cues, are to dismantle painting’s meaning and reopen the space to the humorous, debauched, wry, nonsensical inner language of the artist. These paintings propose a disruption of painting’s banal space and flattened visual field