22282 research outputs found
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The Artistic and Architectural Patronage of Angela Burdett Coutts
No full textThis thesis focuses on the life and artistic patronage of the Victorian philanthropist, Angela Burdett Coutts. The daughter of both an aristocrat and a member of the nouveau riche, Burdett Coutts was the product of both the new and old world of Victorian society and this thesis explores the ways in which Burdett Coutts fashioned an identity as a member of the aristocratic elite through her patronage of art and architecure. It explores the ways in which taste, gender and class are reflected in her collecting practice and examines her role as a patron through three case studies, as art collector, philanthropist and patron of architecture
The X Factor Enigma: Simon Cowell and the Marketization of Existential Liminality
No full textIn this paper we take a cultural perspective to understand the success of Simon Cowell’s X Factor TV talent show and its various brand extensions which, we suggest, epitomise the new marketing priorities of the media convergence era. We seek insights not from formal theories of marketing management but in the myth and magic of Cowell’s enchanted TV presence as the mystical authority, the trickster figure, conducting a mass-mediated experience of Turner’s (1969) ‘existential liminality’. Detached from formal rites of passage, this simulation of liminal ritual temporarily, and symbolically, subverts formal social barriers and opens up the possibility of transformed identity for the contestants. We suggest that X Factor viewers partake both vicariously and actually in this marketized experience of existential liminality. We review literary as well as anthropological antecedents to the media role Cowell personifies and we critique and we extend previous applications of Turner’s work in marketing and consumption to suggest a wider resonance beyond the exemplar of X Factor in a range of ordinary, as well as extraordinary, consumption phenomena
A Model of Anger in Multiple Sclerosis Patients
No full textAnger in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an acknowledged clinical problem; however research is limited and mainly focuses on depression and does not study anger as an individual entity. The current studies, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches, investigated possible vulnerability factors and triggers which could be possibly associated with anger expression in MS participants. Additionally, a descriptive model of anger in MS was developed.
Study 1 investigated emotional, social and cognitive vulnerability factors in MS participants and a control group. Multiple regressions revealed that five factors accounted for 41% of anger variance in MS participants (anger ruminations, anxiety state, anxiety trait, depression and social support). Three factors accounted for 43% of anger variance in control participants (anger ruminations, trait anxiety and fatigue).
Studies 2 and 3 investigated the possible effect of health care professionals’ (HCPs) response and communication styles in healthcare contexts on anger. A methodology for developing and validating vignettes was reported. ANOVAs revealed that HCPs and MS patients identified styles that were low in empathy and low in attending to patients’ needs, as likely to provoke anger. HCPs significantly underestimated provoked levels of anger, compared to MS participants.
Studies 4 and 5 used a qualitative approach (content analysis) to elucidate MS patients’ and HCPs’ perceptions of anger. HCPs identified communication styles as a category which could increase anger in MS patients. Patients’ behaviour also emerged as a category which could contribute to HCPs’ levels of anger. Training was also identified as a category which could help to manage patient anger.
MS participants identified four main categories. MS participants identified the categories of HCPs’ behaviour and unpredictability of MS as possibly contributing to anger levels. The category of ‘effects on health’ emerged as a possible consequence of anger. The category of ‘anger frequency’ highlighted the variations in how often MS participants experienced anger.
A model of anger expression in MS was proposed which incorporated vulnerability factors associated with anger, communication styles and response styles from HCPs. The model was discussed in the context of past literature. Interestingly, it was concluded that factors associated with anger levels in MS participants are not disease factors unique to MS. Strengths and limitations of the studies, implications for clinical practice and future research were outlined
An exploration of cross-genre composition focusing on the combination of natural and synthetic sound sources
No full textThis portfolio explores a combination of acoustic performance with technology in various guises, including the use of backing tracks alongside an ensemble, the manipulation of live instruments with effects and the use of synthesizers and samplers along with an instrumental ensemble. A key feature that runs through the portfolio is the use of specific non-musical subject themes as inspiration for the music. These include the murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich in 2006 by Steve Wright, a speech by David Davis on people trafficking from 2005, the Mumbai hostage situation and bombings of 2007, drug culture and the sounds of London. A large proportion of the pieces that make up this portfolio have contributed to a fusion album entitled Opposites React. This album explores how acoustic performance can be combined with electronics and includes performances and collaborations with performers, poets, producers and visual artists
Rising to the Adaptation Challenge? Responding to Global Environmental Change in eThekwini and Ugu Municipalities, South Africa.
No full textIn response to rising concerns about adverse global environmental change (GEC), or climate change (CC) impacts, adaptation and mitigation measures are being widely implemented. However, much still needs to be understood about how these measures manifest in reality at various scales and the drivers and barriers to action in specific contexts. This thesis uses multiple social science research methods to investigate responses to GEC/CC, with a particular emphasis on adaptation and underlying development contexts, within the neighbouring Ugu and eThekwini local government districts in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. The study’s focus on local authorities and communities is pertinent given that many adaptation and some mitigation actions are ultimately undertaken at local scales. The thesis comprises two main layers of analysis: first, a comparative analysis of Ugu and eThekwini municipalities’ GEC/CC responses and an investigation of the relationship between these municipalities regarding environmental and GEC agendas, and the likely effect of collaboration or lack thereof on GEC adaptation initiatives. Second, incorporating these municipal-scale findings, I explore understandings and responses to climate variability and change and their likely effects within several diverse local study sites across rural-urban continua within both municipalities. The results show that, despite their close proximity, the two municipalities have responded to GEC in very different ways and that municipal authorities, together with their respective diverse local populations, have divergent adaptive capacities. The research also reveals that horizontal inter-municipal collaboration and vertical collaboration between multiple government spheres is weak. The thesis suggests that strengthening such collaboration within a multi-level governance framework can facilitate effective adaptation and address current divergent municipal adaptive capacities. The thesis also reveals the importance for GEC measures to account for the diversity of understandings, responses and vulnerabilities to GEC amongst local populations, shaped by multiple climatic and non-climatic stresses, including cultural beliefs
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