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Media Interpretation of a Leading Woman Politician’s Performances and Dress Code Challenges
Get PDFBased on a corpus of 63 press columns and reports, the paper analyzes how the media construct the identities of Carme Chacón, the first Spanish woman defence minister. It focuses on two salient pictures of her which represent the roles she successfully performed during her first eleven months in office (from April 2008 to March 2009): minister mother, and hybridly-gendered military officer/minister. The study reveals how Chacón’s success as a politician seems to be proportionate to her closeness to the socially sanctioned feminine role of mother, or to the powerful social roles of minister and military officer, performed from hybridly-gendered identities. It reveals as well that identities are becoming more fluid, and a new way to be feminine is pushing its way in the new order
A History of Jewish Mothers on Television: Decoding the Tenacious Stereotype
Get PDFSince the inception of television in the 1940’s the stereotype of the Jewish mother has persisted. This archetypal figure continues into the 21st. Century morphing from a purely ethnic figure to an icon depicting ambivalence about modern motherhood. In deconstructing the perpetuation of this portrait, two components are key: the historical significance of the shtetl mother and the writers and comedians who interpret the shtetl mentality. Most importantly, though, the inconsistencies towards mothers, so strongly birthed in the rise of Second Wave feminism, are still embedded in the Jewish mother stereotype
“Where Religious Freedom Runs in the Streams”: Catholic Expansion in Newport, 1780-1855
No full textIn the nineteenth century, New England was inhospitable territory for Catholics. The historian Jay Dolan notes that Irish Catholics received lower wages and had fewer opportunities to advance in New England than in other regions of the country. Even Rhode Island, with its long tradition of religious freedom, was not immune from nativist impulses. Rhode Islanders elected a member of the anti- Catholic Know Nothing party as governor in 1855 and effectively barred immigrants from voting for most of the nineteenth century. One part of Rhode Island was very different from the rest of the state, however. In Newport, the Catholics, who were overwhelmingly Irish, fared very well. By the 1850s, Catholics had established themselves as a presence in Newport
Reflections in a robot\u27s eye: A cultural history and epistemological critque of humanoid robotics.
No full textWe appear to be at a critical juncture where the impetus to procure autonomous systems to address urgent needs may push us past our reservations about robots and into embracing a rapidly evolving technology with far-reaching implications. The pursuit of humanoid robots is a fact—it is an ongoing, highly attractive field that cannot be ignored solely on the grounds that the ultimate aim might never be achieved. The issue of realization of a humanoid robot is only tangential to what the research and development of humanoid robots has the potential to reveal to us about our own humanity. The humanoid robot is chosen for a very specific reason—the disciplines within this select field of robotics are oriented toward recreating particular human capabilities or traits, and the humanoid form relates both philosophical and scientific concepts of the need for embodiment to the development of true autonomy. The development of humanoid robots connects the works of fiction, philosophy, and technology in a very direct way that allows the exploration of the meaning of humanity in an age of advanced technology. This dissertation examines what humanoid robotics reveals and what it has the potential to reveal about the search for knowledge, the search for the meaning of existence, and the understanding of reality. Both the scientific and fictional investigations of humanoid robots change our views about what a human really is. New questions are raised as a result of the dynamic tension between technologists and humanists. Humanoid robotics is most productively studied from an interdisciplinary, phenomenological perspective, as we must consider the cultural and epistemological impacts of humanoid robots on us as we strive to recreate ourselves
Reflections in a robot\u27s eye: A cultural history and epistemological critque of humanoid robotics
No full textWe appear to be at a critical juncture where the impetus to procure autonomous systems to address urgent needs may push us past our reservations about robots and into embracing a rapidly evolving technology with far-reaching implications. The pursuit of humanoid robots is a fact—it is an ongoing, highly attractive field that cannot be ignored solely on the grounds that the ultimate aim might never be achieved. The issue of realization of a humanoid robot is only tangential to what the research and development of humanoid robots has the potential to reveal to us about our own humanity. The humanoid robot is chosen for a very specific reason—the disciplines within this select field of robotics are oriented toward recreating particular human capabilities or traits, and the humanoid form relates both philosophical and scientific concepts of the need for embodiment to the development of true autonomy. The development of humanoid robots connects the works of fiction, philosophy, and technology in a very direct way that allows the exploration of the meaning of humanity in an age of advanced technology. This dissertation examines what humanoid robotics reveals and what it has the potential to reveal about the search for knowledge, the search for the meaning of existence, and the understanding of reality. Both the scientific and fictional investigations of humanoid robots change our views about what a human really is. New questions are raised as a result of the dynamic tension between technologists and humanists. Humanoid robotics is most productively studied from an interdisciplinary, phenomenological perspective, as we must consider the cultural and epistemological impacts of humanoid robots on us as we strive to recreate ourselves
Sailors in the age of steam: Reexamining a counterintuitive response to advancing technology
No full textTechnology is continually advancing. With each major step forward, users must decide whether to adopt the new technology or to continue using the old. A number of things can influence this choice, but for commercial technologies, economic self-interest is presumed to be the dominant factor. Commercially superior technologies are expected to replace their less-profitable predecessors quickly. Curiously, this did not happen when ocean-going steamships evolved to be more profitable than sailing ships in the 1870s. Some mariners persisted with commercial sail well into the twentieth century. Many explanations have been offered, but none fully account for the phenomenon. Philosopher Albert Borgmann provides a possible alternative interpretation. Borgmann suggests that at some deep, intuitive level, we humans sense that there are benefits in doing some things the hard way; that our lives are meaningfully enriched when we engage with technologies that demand significant time, skill, and commitment. He calls these focal things and practices. This study explores the possibility that the subtle allure of Borgmann\u27s focal things and practices contributed to the persistence of commercial sail. The historical record of a select group of schoonermen is examined, mariners who chose to work under sail into the mid-twentieth century. Qualitative analysis reveals a positive correlation between their lived experiences and key indicia of Borgmann\u27s focal things and practices. Other, more conventional explanations for their choices are examined and dismissed. A conclusion is reached that the attractive forces Borgmann ascribes to focal things and practices did play a role in these mariners\u27 apparently counterintuitive choices. This finding adds weight to Borgmann\u27s larger body of work and has implications for how humanity might deal with advancing technology in the future
Green Decarbonylation of Aldehydes using Palladium (II) Acetate
Get PDFDecarbonylation reactions are important reactions in the chemical industry with typical methods being costly and wasteful. It is important to determine an effective catalyst and to see how general the reaction is with varying aldehydes, as well as to reduce the waste and make the reaction more cost effective. Several different aldehydes were studied using palladium (II) acetate as a catalyst. The samples were analyzed using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) to determine if a product was formed based on the percent report obtained. Palladium (II) acetate was found to be an effective catalyst, yielding 100% product for several aldehydes used. Lower yields were attributed to altering the reflux time, distillation processes, and attempting to reuse the catalyst
Is free really cost-effective? A case study of open access e-textbook usage in several undergraduate business courses.
Get PDFThis paper reviews the current trends and costs of e-textbooks and reports on the usage and satisfaction of students using freely available open access e-textbooks in six sections of different business courses. It also examines how students utilize their textbooks, and if the problems associated with using an e-textbook outweigh the main benefit of a free e-textbook
CALL FOR PAPERS: Women, Social Policy, and the Law Deadline: February 20, 2012
Get PDFThe Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought invites contributions for its next issue: “Women, Social Policy, and the Law.” “Law is the written system through which state authority is defined; thus the study of law is extremely significant in feminist analysis-----the law is both a source for the denial of women’s rights and one of the avenues to which feminists have turned to address the problems of women’s inequality (Andersen, 2009, p. 326).’’ This issue of The Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought will explore the history and status of women from these perspectives
A literary analysis of the American worker: Characterizations by London, Sinclair, Steinbeck and Rand
No full textThis dissertation will examine the portrayal of the early twentieth century worker through the literature of Jack London, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck and Ayn Rand. Special attention is given to the role of technology as it is brought to bear on the worker within the prevailing economic system of laissez-faire Capitalism. While London, Sinclair and Steinbeck reflect on the travails of the pre-industrial and industrial worker, Rand extols the virtues of the industrialist only. Her body of work suggests that the working life of the mid-century worker has been standardized along with the rest of the manufacturing world. This homogenization extends to the worker\u27s home life and neighborhood. The literature of Richard Yates and Ken Kesey help to reflect the resulting alienation of the worker, and the individual, to his/her world