Portraiture in Colonial Virginia: A Transatlantic Narration of Identity

When Virginia was first colonized, the environment wasn’t stable enough to support art. With the cultivation of tobacco and the steadying of the economy, in the mid-eighteenth century, families suddenly became wealthy enough to support it. Wealthy families had their portraits taken and put on display in their house to show their status in society and remind visitors of this status. Unlike England’s high society, the portraits didn’t start off showing their elaborate wealth, it first depicted them as humble middle class families with hints of their wealth represented. Later they took on the full demeanor of the English elite, and started to show their extravagance even though their wealth only went back a few generations. The English however, did not look at them as their equals and Virginia’s also didn’t respect their authority because all they wanted was to climb the social ranks as well. These Virginian elite started to use the concept of patriarchlism-a transition from women running the families to the males running the families, to assert their status to Virginia and the rest of the world. This concept gave the illusion of self-sufficiency and a “divinely appointed social sphere”. They showed this status in their portraits even though they copied their backgrounds, poses, etc. from the English elite. Three styles; Elizabethan-Jacobian, Van Dyke, and the Dutch middle class style were all influenced for the portraits during this time. Early on the Elizabethan-Jacobian prevailed in Virginian portraits because those wealthy enough to have portraits done would travel back to England to pose for them. Once portraits were more widely done in Virginia, the Dutch style prevailed. Over time, the wealthy families started to turn to the more elaborate Van Dyke style to show their generations of wealth. While the Virginian elite copied major pieces of their portraits from the English, the one things they started to do was depict the family differently. In order to show their patriarchal views, they started to depict the father sitting in the chair in the middle of the family to show his importance. They would also depict the children in adult fashions. Meaning the children not only would look older but they would also dress them in the fashions of the adults. This was to insure that the children would know how they were supposed to look to the rest of society

Fertility control, shared nurturing, and dual exploitation: the lives of enslaved mothers in the antebellum United States

Slaveholders believed women could both labour and care for their children simultaneously, and they routinely exploited enslaved mothers as both workers and as reproducers. Using Stephanie Camp’s conceptualization of enslaved women’s bodies as sites of resistance, this article argues that despite slavery’s arduousness motherhood provided a place of refuge for enslaved women to enjoy their children and the camaraderie of their peers. However, women sometimes lamented bringing enslaved children into the world and strove not to do so, especially when pregnancy resulted from sexual assault. Slavery’s unique burdens meant many women participated in shared and more communal forms of mothering than their white counterparts

Education & Awareness for the URI Community for LGBTIQQ Issues Minutes 2-17-11

This document contains the minutes of Education & Awareness for the URI Community for LGBTIQQ Issues meeting on February, 17th 2011

Streaming success: positioning Roku’s future in a hypercompetitive industry

Theoretical basis The theoretical basis for this case is a focus on strategic positioning as related to Porter’s Generic Strategies. The case accounts Roku’s journey in facing additional competition, highlighting the competitive dynamics at play. The case requires students to consider how Roku might revise its generic strategy based on the new competitive landscape in which it operates. Research methodology In writing this case, the research team used secondary research that was informed by interviews with Roku users. Resources such as IBIS World, MergentOnline, academic journals, trade magazines and websites were used to inform and verify information. Case overview/synopsis As the market disruptor of how media was consumed, Roku had been connecting customers, publishes and advertisers with its unique capabilities for over 10 years. With the belief that all TV content should be available through streaming, Roku had forever changed the traditional model of how media was distributed and consumed. By capitalizing on the previously untapped economic opportunity of TV streaming platforms, Roku had made itself the premier streaming broadcast service for users, content publishers and advertisers. The company was now faced with the difficult task of finding the best ways to keep innovation high and continue to grow. Complexity academic level This case could be taught at either the graduate or undergraduate level strategy course. At the undergraduate level, it would be best taught in a strategy course, when discussing industry life cycle or vertical integration. At the graduate level, MBAs could discuss the competitive dynamics and hypercompetition within the industry

GameStop’s next play: reconfiguring the value offering

Theoretical basis The theoretical basis for this case is a focus on strategic positioning as related to Porter’s generic strategies. The case describes GameStop’s previous differentiation approach, executed through physical stores and knowledgeable staff. With technological shifts and the introduction of digital downloads, this strategy is less effective. The case requires students to consider how GameStop might revise its generic strategy based on the new competitive landscape in which it operates. Research methodology In writing this case, the research team conducted thorough analysis through primary data collection in stores as well as secondary data collection through the use of market research tools, such as IBIS World, MergentOnline, S&P Net Advantage, and academic journals, trade magazines, and websites. Case overview/synopsis With high uncertainty shown by stakeholders about the future of GameStop coupled with falling share prices, the company must find a way to stay in play given the rapidly growing digital gaming market. As it planned to close at least 150 of its 7,500 stores, the company was starting to take measures to reduce operational costs and restructure to sectors that best fit consumer interests. GameStop’s core competencies were no longer aligned with market conditions, and its executives were now questioning where it could expand the organization’s operations as they focused on finding untapped areas of the market that have an opportunity for a new competitive advantage. Given its unique market share in gaming memorabilia and trade-in values, students are tasked with finding GameStop’s existing competitive advantages or identifying potential new ones that can be leveraged in a technology-driven industry. Complexity academic level This case could be taught at either the graduate or undergraduate level strategy course. At the undergraduate level, it would be best taught when discussing industry life cycle or competitive dynamics. At the graduate level, MBAs could discuss competitive dynamics facing GameStop and how it might find areas for future strategic growth

Southern Africa ports as spaces of HIV vulnerability: case studies from South Africa and Namibia

There is increasing recognition that in order to respond to the HIV epidemic migrants and mobile populations must be included in national and regional responses. While migration in and of itself does not necessarily contribute to increased risk of HIV infection, some migrants and mobile populations do face increased HIV risk. With its immense coastline and extensive transport industry, Southern Africa provides an excellent case study to examine the HIV risks and vulnerabilities of mobile workers and local communities through port settings. IOM’s research in Southern African ports illustrates why HIV/AIDS policies and programmes must focus on spaces where migrants and mobile populations interact with sedentary populations (including sex workers and other sexual partners) in environments conducive to multiple concurrent partnerships, in order to reduce HIV risk and increase access to treatment, care, and support for all. (Int Marit Health 2010; 61; 4: 233-240

Overstated carbon emission reductions from voluntary REDD+ projects in the Brazilian Amazon

Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has gained international attention over the past decade, as manifested in both United Nations policy discussions and hundreds of voluntary projects launched to earn carbon-offset credits. There are on-going discussions about whether and how projects should be integrated into national efforts under the Paris Agreement. One consideration is whether these projects have generated additional impacts over and above national policies and other conservation measures. To help inform these discussions, we compare the crediting baselines established ex-ante by voluntary REDD+ projects in the Brazilian Amazon to counterfactuals constructed ex-post based on the quasi-experimental synthetic control method. We find that the crediting baselines assume consistently higher deforestation than counterfactual forest loss in synthetic control sites. This gap is partially due to decreased deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon during the early implementation phase of the REDD+ projects considered here. This suggests that forest carbon finance must strike a balance between controlling conservation investment risk and ensuring the environmental integrity of carbon emission offsets. Relatedly, our results point to the need to better align project- and national-level carbon accounting.German Federal Ministry of Education and Researc

Minneapolis Community Gardens: A Study of Public Policies in Minneapolis and Hennepin County

The Twin Cities Metro Area has a large number of community gardens but no comprehensive city policy regarding community gardening. As vacant or tax-forfeit land is increasingly unavailable, land has become difficult to acquire for establishing a community garden. Gardeners need to increasingly look toward public land to provide the space needed for community gardens. Public agencies also have the capability to provide much needed services such as water and compost and other services that cities and counties can offer community gardens. The purpose of this study is to explore these relationships and enhance the understandings of how community gardens and public agencies interact. This research project identifies and explains public policies in Minneapolis and Hennepin County and provides an inventory of land use, water, and compost policies specific to community gardens.Conducted on behalf of the Green Institute. Supported by Neighborhood Planning for Community Revitalization (NPCR), a program of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), University of Minnesota

Spatial Variation in Germination of Two Annual Brome Species in the Northern Great Plains

Downy brome or cheat grass (Bromus tectorum L.) and field brome (B. arvensis L.; Synonym = Bromus japonicus Thunb. ex Murr.; Japanese brome) are two annual exotic species that have increased the intensity and frequency of fire cycles in the Intermountain West of the United States, with millions of dollars in associated costs (DiTomaso 2000). These invasive brome species have a different impact in the Northern Great Plains of North America where they commonly co-occur in disturbed sites (White and Currie 1983, Haferkamp et al. 1993). In these mixed-grass prairie rangelands, annual bromes compete against other forage species (Haferkamp et al. 1997) and reduce litter decomposition rates (Ogle et al. 2003), which negatively impacts ecosystem services of biomass production and soil nutrient availability. In central plains croplands, downy brome invades alfalfa fields (Kapusta and Strieker 1975), wheat fields (Wicks 1984, Ostlie and Howatt 2013), and perennial grass pastures and seed production areas (Wicks 1984). Downy brome is a regulated plant in Montana (Montana Noxious Weed List, December 2013) and has been found in all counties of Montana since 1950 (Menalled et al. 2008). Field brome is found in all North American states and provinces (USDA Plants Database http://plants.usda.gov). It is used as a winter cover crop in vegetable plots and orchards in the Northeastern United States (NRCS 2006). Field brome has no formal designation in the state of Montana, although downy brome and field brome are commonly grouped together and are referred to colloquially as “cheatgrass” in the state