5 research outputs found
Sanctuary Gardens: Roots - Words - Meaning
No full textThe author writes about her work in creating secular sanctuary gardens in both literal and allegorical forms
Law of the landless : the Dalit bid for land redistribution in Gujarat, India
No full textThesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-110).This study examines how government's implementation of land reforms in Gujarat, India informs Dalit (i.e., 'Outcaste') activism for land redistribution. It takes as a case study the Navsarjan Trust (or simply Navsarjan), a non-profit group that advocates for Dalit land rights in Surendranagar district, Gujarat. I contend that the Dalit land movement has implicitly recognized a complex reality: the outcomes of state policy on the ground are the products of a struggle between competing caste interests located within a nested hierarchy of local government institutions. I argue that Navsarjan's strategy is to modify the strength of the links between levels in this nested game--oftentimes by allowing Dalit land appeals to bypass lower, less progressive levels of government in favor of higher ones--in order to produce favorable results for the Dalit land rights movement. This strategy explodes the myth of a monolithic, intransigent state, and portrays government rather as a framework that structures social struggle. Section 1 argues that land redistribution is seen by the Dalit activist movement as a means of verticalizing horizontal ethnic stratifications. In Section 2, I quantitatively analyze the role and effects of local government offices charged with the implementation of land reform legislation.(cont.) I argue that the hierarchy of local government constitutes a nested battleground, on which the interests of Dalits and the upper-castes vie for influence. In Section 3, I examine Navsarjan's tactics in the land redistribution movement. I argue that the organization's success is largely due to its dual role as both agitator and embedded bureaucratic facilitator within the government hierarchy. I then examine qualitative evidence that could complement (and point up shortcomings of) Section 2's quantitative analysis. I conclude by examining avenues for future research and making policy recommendations for Navsarjan and for the state.by Topher L. McDougal.M.C.P
A longitudinal study of the development of expressive timing
No full textTempo arches have often been reported in polished music performances, but their development during the learning of a new piece has not been studied. We examined the development of expressive timing at three levels of musical structure (piece, section, phrase) as an experienced concert soloist (the second author) prepared the Prelude from J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 6 for solo cello for public performance. We used mixed effect models to assess the development of expressive timing and the effects of the performance cues (PCs) that the cellist used as mental landmarks to guide her performance. Tempo arches appeared early in practice at all three levels of musical structure and changed over time in complex ways, first becoming more pronounced and more asymmetrical and then shrinking somewhat in later performances. Arches were also more pronounced in phrases that contained PCs, suggesting that PCs reminded the cellist where to “breathe” between phrases. The early development of tempo arches suggests that they were an automatic product of basic cognitive or motor processes. The complex trajectory of their later development appeared to be the result, at least in part, of a deliberate communicative strategy intended to draw listeners’ attention to some musical boundaries more than others
A longitudinal study of the development of expressive timing
No full textTempo arches have often been reported in polished music performances, but their development during the learning of a new piece has not been studied. We examined the development of expressive timing at three levels of musical structure (piece, section, phrase) as an experienced concert soloist (the second author) prepared the Prelude from J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 6 for solo cello for public performance. We used mixed effect models to assess the development of expressive timing and the effects of the performance cues (PCs) that the cellist used as mental landmarks to guide her performance. Tempo arches appeared early in practice at all three levels of musical structure and changed over time in complex ways, first becoming more pronounced and more asymmetrical and then shrinking somewhat in later performances. Arches were also more pronounced in phrases that contained PCs, suggesting that PCs reminded the cellist where to “breathe” between phrases. The early development of tempo arches suggests that they were an automatic product of basic cognitive or motor processes. The complex trajectory of their later development appeared to be the result, at least in part, of a deliberate communicative strategy intended to draw listeners’ attention to some musical boundaries more than others
