Early dynamical evolution of star cluster systems

Violent relaxation -- the protocluster dynamical response to the expulsion of its residual star forming gas -- is a short albeit crucial episode in the evolution of star clusters and star cluster systems. Because it is heavily driven by cluster formation and environmental conditions, it is a potentially highly rewarding phase in terms of probing star formation and galaxy evolution. In this contribution I review how cluster formation and environmental conditions affect the shape of the young cluster mass function and the relation between the present star formation rate of galaxies and the mass of their young most massive cluster.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Invited talk. To appear in the proceedings of IAU Symp. 266 (Star clusters, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 2009), eds. R. de Grijs and J. Lepin

Near Horizon Geometry and Black Holes in Four Dimensions

A large class of extremal and near-extremal four dimensional black holes in M-theory feature near horizon geometries that contain three dimensional asymptotically anti-de Sitter spaces. Globally, these geometries are derived from AdS_3 by discrete identifications. The microstates of such black holes can be counted by exploiting the conformal symmetry induced on the anti-de Sitter boundary, and the result agrees with the Bekenstein-Hawking area law. This approach, pioneered by Strominger, clarifies the physical nature of the black hole microstates. It also suggests that recent analyses of the relationship between boundary conformal field theory and supergravity can be extended to orbifolds of AdS spaces.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX, small clarifications, references added, version to appear in Nucl. Phys.

“The Cloud of Unseeing”: Myths Transformed and Pseudo-scientific Interpretations of the Book of Genesis

This paper, delivered at the Tolkien Seminar (Kalamazoo, MI) on May 9, 2018, traces the potential influence of popular late 19th-century Biblical commentaries on the Book of Genesis on Tolkien\u27s post Lord Of the Rings cosmologies, in particular the problem of the creation of the Sun and Moon

A Journey Down the Rabbit Hole of the OED in Search of the Meaning of “Master” Elrond

An editorial commentary on the use of the title “Master” to describe Elrond, with heavy reliance on the Oxford English Dictionary

Getting Down to Business: Women's Economic and Social Empowerment in Burundi

This document presents the International Rescue Committee seeking to determine what is the most effective way to support women's empowerment in conflict-affected settings. Drawing on extensive field experience, the IRC designed a program in Burundi that actively involved both women and men in an economic program and a discussion series around household finances. IRC's EA$E (Economic And Social Empowerment for women) program ultimately aims to increase women's decision-making in the home and decrease intimate partner violence (IPV). The IRC partnered with Professor Radha Iyengar from the London School of Economics to rigorously examine if adding a discussion series for couples was more effective in increasing decision-making and reducing violence, rather than just an economic program on its own

Magic, Matrimony, and the Moon: Medieval Lunar Symbolism in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun” and “The Fall of Arthur”

This paper (originally delivered at the 2017 International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, UK) explores common lunar symbolism in The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun and The Fall of Arthur