The 1619 project as aesthetic and social practice; or, the art of the essay in the digital age

In August 2019, The New York Times launched The 1619 Project, a multimedia initiative to commemorate the arrival of the first enslaved Africans on the shore of the land that would become the United States and to reckon with the impact of slavery on U.S. culture and society. This essay seeks to examine The 1619 Project. I argue that The 1619 Project draws on the tradition of the essay - for Frankfurt School thinker Theodor Adorno "the critical form par excellence" (1988: 166) - and adapts it to our continually evolving media environment in ways that revamp its form and reinforce its aesthetic, critical, and political potential. Assessing this claim from the perspective of the reading public, I ask: what are some of the strategic advantages of the essay form when it comes to engaging readers as publics?.</p

States of Nature: Locke and Hobbes in Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain is renowned for his witty criticism of society. Almost invariably his nonchalant quips, when pondered, tear deep into the (t)issues of religion, morality, and humanity. Other times, however, he takes a slower, less overt and less lively tack to make his points. One such instance occurs in his book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this book, the main protagonist, a young Huckleberry Finn, journeys down the Mississippi River and into adulthood. Throughout his odyssey, Huck encounters many situations conducive for direct and humorous criticism, but woven into his trek as a whole is a more elaborate development of his person, specifically his conscience. Twain himself described Huckleberry Finn as “a book of [his] where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers a defeat” (qtd. in Levy 383). As he drifts, Huck is presented with opportunities that force him to choose between two competing consciences, his innate, visceral conscience and an intellectual conscience established by society and religion. As the book progresses, we see him deliberate between these two options before eventually surrendering to his gut. In doing so, Huck proves himself to be governed by markedly Lockean principles. Pap, on the other hand, contrasts with Huck by presenting himself as a product of Hobbes. By using the sociopolitical lenses of Locke and Hobbes to view the self-government of Twain’s characters, we can see a clearer image of how their consciences contrast with each other and society

What Dewey Knew:The Public as Problem, Practice, and Art

This essay takes the present “post truth” threat to democratic politics as an occasion to revisit John Dewey’s view of the public as a political actor that is both indispensible for the project of modern democracy and vulnerable to self-effacement. Drawing on a recent development in democratic theory—epistemic democracy—that is in part inspired by Dewey, I trace how Dewey’s relativist understanding of truth animates his views of the public as a political actor and of democracy as a “collective exercise in practical intelligence” (Festenstein). But in linking the epistemic thrust of Dewey’s political theory with his view of communication as art, I move beyond established understandings of epistemic democracy to argue that the aesthetic is assigned with a key role in collectively exercising the practical intelligence that both sustains democracy and moves it forward—and that epistemic democrats have overlooked so far

Thrilling Monotony: A Summer of Alzheimer\u27s Research

The primary genetic risk determinant for late-onset Alzheimer\u27s disease is the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE). Variations in this gene produce three different isoforms of the apolipoprotein E protein (ApoE): ApoE2, ApoE3, and ApoE4. ApoE# is the most common isoform, so rates of LOAD among other genotypes are indexed to this variant. ApoE2 is rather rare, but its carriers are less likely to get LOAD; when they do, they get it later. The second most common variant is ApoE4, and its carriers are significantly more likely to get LOAD. They also tend to succumb earlier. Once developed, LOAD is characterized by inflammation-related (M1) changes in microglia, non-neuronal cells that mediate innate immunity in the central nervous system (CNS). Microglia are also capable of expressing gene products associated with an alternative, non-inflammatory (M2) form of activation in the periphery, but the degree to which microglia recapitulate those peripheral phenomena and the influence of LOAD etiology in the M1-M2 spectrum remain to be determined. Thus, identifying the effects of ApoE3 and ApoE4 on activated microglia could be helpful in two important ways: 1) by elucidating the differences in activity between ApoE3 and ApoE4 during LOAD and 2) by characterizing the M1-M2 spectrum of activation in the CNS. To explore these areas, we cultured primary microglia harvested from neonatal rats and treated them with ApoE3, ApoE4, an M2 activator---interleukin-4--- or combinations thereof. We then measured expression of M2 genes, phagocytic activity, and mitochondrail respiration. Preliminary results have shown substantial effects of ApoE and IL-4 on all these parameters, notably, epression of CD33 and TREM2, modulators of phagocytic activity, and other genetic determinants of LOAD risk. Ongoing experiments seek to further characterize these effects

Expression of parasite virulence at different host population densities under natural conditions

It has recently been suggested that the expression of parasite virulence depends on host population density, such that infected hosts have a higher sensitivity to density, and thus reach their carrying capacity earlier than uninfected hosts. In this scenario, parasite-induced reduction in fitness (i.e., virulence) increases with host density. We tested this hypothesis experimentally, using outdoor mesocosm populations of Daphnia magna infected by the microsporidian Octosporea bayeri. Contrary to the prediction, virulence was independent of host density. In a competition experiment with initial prevalence of 50%, O. bayeri reduced the competitive ability of infected Daphnia within the asexual growth phase independent of initial host population density. In an additional experiment we set up populations with 100% and 0% prevalence and followed their population dynamics over the whole season. Consistent with the competition experiment, we found no difference in population dynamics within the asexual growth phase of the host, suggesting that infected hosts are not more sensitive to density than uninfected hosts. The additional experiment, however, included more than the initial growth phase as did the competition experiment. Eventually, after 100days, 100% infected populations assumed a reduced carrying capacity compared to uninfected populations. We identify and discuss three reasons for the discrepancy between our experiment and the prediction

Belonging and Narrative

Why did the novel become so popular in the past three centuries, and how did the American novel contribute to this trend? As a key provider of the narrative frames and formulas needed by modern individuals to give meaning and mooring to their lives. Drawing on phenomenological hermeneutics, human geography and social psychology, Laura Bieger contends that belonging is not a given; it is continuously produced by narrative. Against the current emphasis on metaphors of movement and destabilization, she explores the salience and significance of home. Challenging views of narrative as a mechanism of ideology, she approaches narrative as a practical component of dwelling in the world - and the novel a primary place-making agent

Polymers in Solar Cells

Due to the promising properties of semiconducting polymers they have attracted wide spread interest. During the last decade we have worked on a smart chemistry approach to these substrates and organometallic compounds with special focus on design, synthesis and characterization of materials that could be used in photovoltaic devices. In these materials, one of the most important aspects is high absorbance in the UV-Vis spectrum as a necessary characteristic for high conversion rates of light to electric energy. We were able to show that this can be achieved introducing certain functional groups as, e.g., NO2-moieties. Another important aspect is the interaction with the buffer layers that also form part of the whole photovoltaic device. Here we show that a double layer of CuI/MoO3 increased the energy yield for a large variety of organic substrates along with related results from other leading groups reported in literature