748 research outputs found
The evolution of a writer's voice: Gloria Naylor reads and reflects on her own work
No full textRecorded in Ithaca, NY by Cornell University., Sponsored by: Society for the Humanities., Speaker(s): Author of The Women of Brewster Place, Mama Day and Linden Hills., Reading, November 21, 1988.Naylor describes the development of her literary voice and suggests that the legion of voices which have preceded her have molded hers into what it is today.1_k80p6ida1_cmmq69o
Perspectives on Critical Design: a Conversation with Ralph Ball and Maxine Naylor
No full textThis paper features an edited conversation with designers Ralph Ball and Maxine Naylor. It explores their thinking in relation to critical design.
In the preface to 'Form Follows Idea' (Ball & Naylor, 2005) Jeremy Myerson describes Ball and Naylor as being regarded among Britain’s most thoughtful furniture designers.
In 1985 Ball formed a design partnership with Maxine Naylor a reputable experimental designer maker. Together they began to challenge the boarders between art, craft and design. They have exhibited work internationally and held teaching positions in colleges in the UK and USA. Over the course of a decade from 1985 Ball taught on Furniture, Jewellery and Industrial design at the Royal College of Art where Naylor taught on Furniture Design, directing the course between 1995 and 1998. Today Ralph Ball is Professor of Design at Central Saint Martins University of the Arts London and Maxine Naylor is Professor of Design and Director of the Design Research Institute University of Brighton.
Through practice and academic tenure they have developed a distinctive approach to practice based research and refined their critical perspectives. They describe themselves as critical designers and use design as a critical, visual discourse to communicate ideas about design culture and society today. Taking experimentation as a research method they subject their ideas to a critical process of refutation. They question the work through a scholarly approach that challenges protocols of design to enhance the design profession.
In this conversation the designer’s concepts of ‘open-process’ and ‘design poetics’ are discussed. They describe their role acting as critics of design from within design practice. They outline their thoughts on the increasingly un-ideological culture of industrial design. They describe how through playful experiment they question the value of repetition in design and mass production of products. They do this by taking modernist axioms to extremes and ‘embedding narrative’ into objects as commentary on the state of contemporary design.
Supplementing the conversation the author offers his reflections. Primarily this exposes a form of critical design that differs significantly from popular and often technologically orientated notions of critical design
Using Colour-Magnitude-Diagrams to Study the Evolution of Young Stellar Populations
No full textTimescales for stellar evolution and star and planet formation are critical to provide constraints
on theories. The accuracy of these timescales, and therefore our ability to confidently
reject a given model, rely on the accuracy of the derived ages for star-forming-regions (SFRs). In
this study I have developed the new techniques and adopted or updated the existing techniques
necessary to derive precise age orders for a range of SFRs.
Deriving precise ages for SFRs requires precise distances and extinctions. I have applied a
new technique, 2 fitting (Naylor &Je ries, 2006), to derive a set of self-consistent and statistically
robust distances (and mean extinctions), with associated uncertainties for 12 SFRs. I have also
revised and formalised a widely used method of deriving individual extinctions, the Q-method
(Johnson &Morgan, 1953). These new data show that the largest remaining uncertainty in deriving
distances to SFRs is composition.
Deriving ages or age orders for pre-main-sequence (pre-MS) populations using pre-MS
theoretical isochrones has been shown to be unreliable at present (Naylor et al., 2002; Bonatto
et al., 2004; Pinsonneault et al., 2004), largely due to model dependencies and spreads within a
colour-magnitude diagram (CMD). Therefore, I have developed a technique to model the pre-MS,
generating empirical isochrones, which e ectively removes spreads in pre-MS populations in a
CMD.
The derived distances and extinctions have been applied to the empirical isochrones, enabling
the creation of an age ordered ladder in intrinsic colour and absolute magnitude. This
has been calibrated using ages for fiducial sequences and nominal ages assigned to the separable
groups, which are as follows:
1 Myr, NGC2244 and IC5146.
2 Myrs, NGC6530 and the ONC.
3 Myrs, Ori, Cep OB3b, NGC2264 and Ori.
45 Myrs, NGC2362 and IC348.
10 Myrs, NGC7160.
13 Myrs, h and Per.
20 Myrs, NGC1960.
40 Myrs, NGC2547.
2
Once assigned the nominal ages and age orders were combined with ancillary data to investigate
rotation rate and disc evolution. The general trends of rotation rate distribution evolution
and disc fraction changes with age confirmed existing estimates for the disc survival, and therefore
star-disc interaction through disc-locking, with a timescale of 5 Myrs. However, this study
also revealed some of the first evidence of local environment e ects. IC348 appears ‘out of sequence’
in both the rotation rate distribution and disc fraction. Specifically, IC348 has a larger disc
fraction than expected at its nominal age and exhibits a rotation rate distribution expected from a
much younger SFR (i.e. the ONC). This could be a consequence of the lower number density of
O stars (none exist in IC348) and therefore a lower density of UV flux, which acts to hasten disc
dissipation.
Finally, a potentially important feature of stellar populations in a CMD, the R-C gap was
identified. This separation in a CMD of the fully convective pre-MS and main-sequence (MS) stars
with radiative cores was found to vary as a function of age. As the R-C gap is also measurable in
colour it provides a distance independent age indicator. I have explained the underlying physics
of the R-C gap and discussed possible applications of this phase change of the stellar interior.
In addition, an overlap between the pre-MS and MS sections of the R-C gap was apparent in all
SFRs where the R-C gap could be unambiguously identified. This R-C gap overlap shows that
the studied SFRs must contain a spread in isochronal ages. However, the interpretation of this
spread is dependent on the underlying assumptions. If one assumes stars form by a robust slowstar-
formation (SSF) mechanism and isochronal ages represent the true age of a star, then these
spreads can be construed as true age spreads. Alternatively, if one adopts a rapid-star-formation
model (RSF), this spread can be explained as a variation in accretion histories of the constituent
stars. As found by Siess et al. (1999) and Tout et al. (1999) accretion can act to accelerate pre-MS
star evolution, meaning the isochronal age does not represent the true age of the star. This increases
the advantages of empirical isochrones and age ordering over the derivation of individual ages for
SFRs. Indeed, this R-C gap overlap could be used to ‘normalise out’ any spread in age or accretion
history and therefore increase the power of derived age orders
A contaminant-free catalogue of Gaia DR2-WISE Galactic Plane matches: including the effects of crowding in the cross-matching of photometric catalogues (dataset)
No full textSource IDs, Positions, Magnitudes, Cross-match probability, and WISE contamination probability and flux levels for all Gaia-WISE matches in the Galactic plane, |b| < 10The article associated with this dataset is located in ORE at: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/33934Faint, hidden contaminants in the point-spread functions (PSFs) of stars cause shifts to their measured positions. Wilson & Naylor (2017) showed failing to account for these shifts can lead to a drastic decrease in the number of returned catalogue matches in crowded fields. Here we highlight the effect these perturbations have on cross-matching, for matches between Gaia DR2 and WISE stars in a crowded Galactic plane region. Applying the uncertainties as quoted to Gaussian-based astrometric uncertainty functions (AUFs) can lead, in dense Galactic fields, to only matching 55% of the counterparts. We describe the construction of empirical descriptions for AUFs, building on the cross-matching method of Wilson & Naylor (2018), utilising the magnitudes of both catalogues to discriminate between true and false counterparts. We apply the improved cross-matching method to the Galactic plane |b| ≤ 10. We provide the most likely counterpart matches and their respective probabilities. We also analyse several cases to verify the robustness of the results, highlighting some important caveats and considerations. Finally, we discuss the effect PSF resolution has by comparing the intra-catalogue nearest neighbour separation distributions of a sample of likely contaminated WISE objects and their corresponding Spitzer counterpart. We show that some WISE contaminants are resolved in Spitzer, with smaller intra-catalogue separations. We have highlighted the effect contaminant stars have on WISE, but it is important for all photometric catalogues, playing an important role in the next generation of surveys, such as LSST.TJW acknowledges support from an STFC Studentship. TN is funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant.
Tina McElroy Ansa, Gloria Naylor, Ntozake Shange and the christio-conjure literary tradition, 1995
No full textThe Christio-Conjure paradigm, a product of both Christianity and Conjuring, historically has provided an alternate set of ideologies for African Americans. As an ontological archetype, the Christio-Conjure paradigm is centered around a set of metaphysical phenomenon featuring various conventions such as religious/moral guidance, natural healing, and contact with spirits. To a large extent, the Christio-Conjure paradigm functions within a matriarchal network designed to extol the African American woman as the life force and mother of humanity. A corpus of African American women writers have exhibited a critical interest in the Christio-Conjure paradigm because of its cultural link with the past and because of the Afrofemcentric allure associated with this ancient, yet ever-active, African American tradition. Tina McElroy Ansa, Gloria Naylor, and Ntozake Shanqe are three authors who contribute to the matrix of African American womens writing via their novels, Baby of the Family (1988), Mama Day (1989), and Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo (1982) respectively; each author functions as a literary Christio-Conjure woman, fashioning worlds of women richly impacted by the power of conjure
(Re)covering lost lore : folklore adaptations in Zora Neale Hurston and Gloria Naylor.
No full textThough folklore is a knowledge-sharing, identity-forming practice that is utilized by a number of cultural groups, many scholars deride its emphasis on orality and storytelling. One reason may be that folklore practitioners are often members of marginalized cultures; for example both Zora Neale Hurston and Gloria Naylor, two prominent African American female authors, use folklore, their written literature. In doing so, both Hurston and Naylor recognize the value folklore has played in African American culture and they give voice to its rich complexities.
To address concerns raised by critics, the first chapter examines scholarship regarding Hurston’s works, particularly her autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road. Traditionally, Hurston critics interpret her writing as subversively concerned with race issues; however, a comparison between Hurston’s published text and holograph manuscript reveals that Hurston’s views on race are indeterminate. As a result, her published works, particularly her nonfiction, need to be analyzed through a different lens: folklore. By looking at folklore, I will address Hurston’s engagement with racial issues and her desire to move beyond racial restrictions. Folklore, then, is crucial to understanding Hurston’s nonfiction texts because it both reaffirms Hurston’s connection to racial issues and recognizes the complexities within Hurston’s storytelling.
The second chapter builds upon the first by analyzing the folklore genres used in Dust Tracks on a Road to demonstrate how Hurston creates a holistic picture of the African American folklore identity. Notably, she recognizes that Western myth, African forms, fairy tale, and the picaresque all influence the African lore of the American South. In doing so, Hurston creates a more complicated picture of African American folklore. She reveals that myth, a term that will be used to denote Western mythology, communicates the heroic identity, African forms reinforce communal identity, fairy tales provide relatable archetypes, and the picaresque promotes gender stereotypes. Then she moves beyond these forms to subvert genre expectations; thereby creating new folklore that is representative of her contemporary African American experience.
The final chapter shows the influence Hurston has on Gloria Naylor, a contemporary African American female author. In Mama Day, Naylor utilizes the same four folklore genres as Hurston. In her text, however, Naylor employs folklore in a slightly different manner. For example, she reveals that myth, in the form of Shakespearean literature, denotes societal values, African forms reinforce communal identity, fairy tales provide relatable archetypes, and the picaresque reveals identity. the then, like Hurston, subverts genre expectations to create folklore that is representative of contemporary African American culture. Unlike Hurston, though, Naylor does not use folklore to explore the complexities within herself, but within her culture.
Together, these chapters reveal the way in which oral culture, particularly folklore, pervades the written texts of African American women. By sustaining the traditions of African American folk culture, Hurston and Naylor pay homage to a culture that is often ignored by critics and also recognize the influence that various cultural groups – European, Native American, and African – have had on African American customs. Furthermore, both authors note the evolutionary nature of folklore and folk culture, demonstrating the adaptations African American communities have undergone during the twentieth century. By doing so, both Hurston and Naylor complicate and rewrite conventional perceptions of African American culture to create a richer, more complex, picture of folklore communities.M.A
A maximum-likelihood method for fitting colour-magnitude diagrams
No full textProvided a solution to the long-standing problem of extracting parameters from isochrone fitting for colour-magnitude diagrams. Naylor originated the idea, carried out the simulations and wrote the paper. Jeffries provided the models.Copyright ©: 2006 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.We present a maximum-likelihood method for fitting two-dimensional model distributions to stellar data in colour–magnitude space. This allows one to include (for example) binary stars in an isochronal population. The method also allows one to derive formal uncertainties for fitted parameters, and assess the likelihood that a good fit has been found. We use the method to derive an age of 38.5+3.5−6.5 Myr and a true distance modulus of 7.79+0.11−0.05 mag from the V versus V−I diagram of NGC 2547 (the uncertainties are 67 per cent confidence limits, and the parameters are insensitive to the assumed binary fraction). These values are consistent with those previously determined from low-mass isochronal fitting, and are the first measurements to have statistically meaningful uncertainties. The age is also consistent with the lithium depletion age of NGC 2547, and the Hipparcos distance to the cluster is consistent with our value.
The method appears to be quite general and could be applied to any N-dimensional data set, with uncertainties in each dimension. However, it is particularly useful when the data are sparse, in the sense that both the typical uncertainties for a data point and the size of structure in the function being fitted are small compared with the typical distance between data points. In this case binning the data will lose resolution, whilst the method presented here preserves it.
Software implementing the methods described in this paper is available from http://www.astro.ex.ac.uk/people/timn/tau-squared/
On-orbit Thermal Performance of the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument
No full textBryan Shaughnessy, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Space, United KingdomTim Grundy, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Space, United KingdomSamuel Tustain, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Space, United KingdomMireya Etxaluze, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Space, United KingdomBret Naylor, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USAMark Weilert, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USAICES202: Satellite, Payload, and Instrument Thermal ControlThe 52nd International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Calgary, Canada, on 16 July 2023 through 20 July 2023.Authors
Bryan M. Shaughnessy(1), Tim Grundy(1), Samuel Tustain(1), Mireya Etxaluze(1) Bret Naylor(2) and Mark Weilert(2).
1 RAL Space, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK
2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Abstract
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observatory was launched on the 25th December 2021. This was followed by a commissioning phase of about six months, where the observatory deployed to its final configuration and transferred to its L2 orbit location, whilst cooling science components and instruments down to their cryogenic operating temperatures.
The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) is one of four scientific instruments on the JWST observatory. It provides unique capabilities to probe the deeply dust-enshrouded regions of the universe, investigating the history of star formation both near and far.
The MIRI is the coldest instrument on the observatory. Its thermal design is driven by requirements to cool an Optics Module (OM) to below 16 K and detectors within this to below 7 K with a stability of <10 mK over 1000 seconds. The OM is accommodated within the passively cooled Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM). The instrument temperatures are achieved by a combination of thermal isolation from the ISIM and active cooling by a dedicated cryocooler.
This paper summarises briefly the thermal design and pre-launch thermal verification of the instrument. It goes on to report the MIRI thermal performance through the commissioning phase, and concludes with lessons that can be applied to future similar missions
Joan Dillon papers
No full textJoan Kent Dillon (b. 1925) is a nationally known historic preservation activist, having served on the Board of Directors of the National Trust for Historic Preservation from 1980 to 1989 and the Smithsonian Institution from 1989 to the present. A long-time resident of Kansas City, Dillon began her involvement with historic theaters in 1974, when she purchased the Folly Theater in the city center. Over the next thirteen years she raised more than $5 million to renovate the former burlesque hall. Her activities with the Folly Theater led to her involvement with the League of Historic American Theaters (LHAT), on whose Board of Directors she served after 1978. Through her growing involvement with theaters, she met David Naylor, a photographer and author of two books on American movie theaters. Together they decided to pursue Dillon's longstanding idea of a book on nineteenth-century American theaters. In the period between 1994 and 1996, they traveled extensively, viewing, evaluating, and photographing theaters throughout the United States. The resulting book, American Theaters: Performance Halls of the Nineteenth Century, appeared in 1997. The papers focus exclusively on the research, preparation and publication of American Theaters: Performance Halls of the Nineteenth Century. The collection documents theaters included in the book, as well as theaters that were considered for inclusion but rejected. There are also a large number of photographs and slides of theaters documented in the files
Open destinies : modern American women and the short story cycle
No full textThis thesis examines the juncture between the short story cycle form and gender politics. It explores how twentieth-century women from the United States have been using the form to represent and question gender identity. The introduction outlines commentaries on the story cycle and considers definitions of the form. It includes case studies of earlier twentieth-century cycles by American women: cycles such as Mary McCarthy's The Company She Keeps that have been passed over by critics of the form.
Chapter One presents Eudora Welty's The Golden Apples as a cycle paradigm, examining conventions such as the form's metafictional dimension and its preoccupation with communal identity. Chapter Two argues that Grace Paley's scattered Faith narratives set a standard for more dispersed versions of the form. Chapter Three considers how Joyce Carol Oates uses the sequential cycle to represent gender identity as a social construct. Chapters Four and Five examine the macrocosmic cycles of Gloria Naylor and Louise Erdrich and consider changes in their form and gender politics. The final 'composite' chapters explore postmodern versions of the form such as Susan Minot's Monkeys. The prose works of Sandra Cisneros stretch across the story cycle continuum, whilst Toni Morrison's Paradise is universally regarded as a novel. Readings of contemporary cycles by Melissa Bank, Elissa Schappell and Emily Carter demonstrate that American women are re-invigorating the form to facilitate the plural identity of the postmodern heroine
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