I, Migrant?

‘I, Migrant?’ is a narrative poetry sequence that explores themes of language, culture, identity and belonging through the eyes of an Australian living in Den Haag, The Netherlands. The speaker in the poems faces challenges such as seeking work and making friends in a context where she does not speak the dominant language, Dutch. This proves far from easy, destabilising her sense of identity. She questions where and how she can belong. Reluctant to join what she considers “the white ghetto of Den Haag,” the speaker initially attempts to assimilate herself into Dutch culture, but later finds solace in a community of other expats. Within this community, national identities become exaggerated and people morph into stereotypes. The speaker increasingly defines herself as “Australian,” performing this identity both publicly and in private. Beneath the surface there bubbles, however, an awareness that she is acting out a myth. A more genuine sense of belonging emerges, unexpectedly, in an Asian food court, where she converses in Dutch with staff who also speak it as their second language. The speaker concludes that identity is located in language. It is therefore neither fixed nor singular, but multiple and forever changing

Castaway

Poetr

Review of No Waiting Like Departure by Debasish Lahiri.

Review of No Waiting Like Departure by Debasish Lahiri

For the Need

Architecture is often thought of as a grand, expensive undertaking ? one reserved only for the privileged and for those who can afford to build huge houses, breathtaking museums, and playthings for the rich. However, it is my belief that not only can architecture help those truly in need, but that it should. Those who struggle most in our current climate are usually those dealing with the struggles of living below the poverty line. Low-income housing and community centers are widely known to be often ugly, ramshackle, and generally undesirable. And yet, the people burdened with these failures of architecture are those who are in most need of architecture?s power. This project is a dual study into the architectural needs of such communities, and a possible building system, or center, that is not only affordable, but is also strong, useful, beautiful, and beneficial to uplift poor communities most in need. This study would create a working design, but also outline issues that most affect communities below the poverty line. After not only reading and doing research into those issues, but also directly asking those in these communities what they most need, an offering of a working solution to put into place in other projects will be displayed

Development and Initial Validation of the Disavowal of Racial Bias Scale (DRB)

While research suggests that blatant expressions of racism are on the decline, more subtle forms of bias persist (Dovidio & Gartner, 2004; Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald, 2002). These biases can be automatic and unintentional, often occurring outside conscious awareness. Studies suggest that developing awareness is the first step to moderating discriminatory thoughts and behaviors (Divine & Monteith, 1993; Dovidio & Gaertner, 2004; Durrheim, Hook, & Riggs, 2009; Monteith & Voils, 1998). When White Americans are aware of their biases, they are more likely to adjust their attitudes and alter their behaviors. Crucially, when biases go unacknowledged, there are fewer opportunities to combat unintentional racism. As a result, the tendency to disavow racial biases demands scholarly attention. In order to further research in this area, a way of measuring awareness of racial bias is needed. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop and initially validate the Disavowal of Racial Bias Scale (DRB). A review of the research on racial bias helped generate 38 initial items. An empirical approach was then used to determine an optimal version of the scale. In Phase 1, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of data from 579 participants suggested a 2-factor model with a total of 24 items. The first factor was named Bias Examples because it included statements referring to specific examples of racial bias. The second factor was named Bias Existence because it included statements referring to the general phenomenon of racial bias. In Phase 2, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of data from a second subsample of 579 participants was used to confirm the factor structure identified in Phase 1. Both subscales demonstrated high internal consistency, providing evidence of the DRB's reliability. Further psychometric evaluations provided evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. However, the 2-factor model did not appear to be reasonably consistent with the data as evidenced by a poor model fit. Although there are many promising aspects of the final 24-item DRB, more work is needed to make it a valid measure for future use. Limitations of this study and recommendations for future scale development in this area will be discussed

Anomaluos RR Lyrae (V-I)_0 colors in Baade's Window

We compare (V-I)_0-(V-K)_0 color-color and (V-I)_0-log P period-color diagrams for Baade's Window and local RRab Lyrae stars. We find that for a fixed log P the Baade's Window RR Lyrae stars are ~0.17 magnitudes redder in (V-I)_0 than the local RR Lyrae stars. We also show that there is no such effect observed in (V-K)_0. We argue that an extinction misestimate towards Baade's Window is not a plausible explanation of the discrepancy. Unlike Baade's Window RR Lyrae stars, the local ones follow a black-body color-color relation and are well approximated by theoretical models. We test two parameters, metallicity and surface gravity, and find that their effects are too small to explain the (V-I)_0 discrepancy between the two groups of stars. We do not provide any explanation for the anomalous (V-I)_0 behavior of the Baade's Window RR Lyrae stars. We note that a similar effect for clump giant stars has been recently reported by Paczynski and we caution that RR Lyrae stars and clump giants, often used as standard candles, can be subject to the same type of systematics.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Ap