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21st Century American Environmental ideologies: a Re-evaluation
(Routledge, 2017-11-29) Hultgren, John
ABSTRACT Around the turn of the century, myriad books and articles – from academics, journalists, organizational leaders and grassroots activists – explored the state of American environmentalism, outlining ideological antagonisms and tracing the contours of possible twenty-first century trajectories. In recent years, however, there have been few such analyses, and those that do exist continue to rely on the ideal types of the past. This article explores the shifting ideological contours of American environmentalism by (1) detailing how extant works categorize American environmental ideologies, and (2) employing discourse and content analysis of sixteen American environmental organizations to consider whether existing ideal-types capture the ideological variability driving contemporary environmental practice. It concludes by outlining six twenty-first century American environmental ideal-types: wilderness preservationism; liberal environmentalism; traditional environmental justice; techno-ecological optimism; socio-ecological progressivism; and socio-ecological radicalism. The article argues that the latter three ideological variants signal an ontological shift that cuts to the core of environmental practice.
Afghanistan: a cultural and political history
(Routledge, 2011-09) Coburn, Noah
A review of the book Afghanistan: a cultural and political history, by Thomas Barfield, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2010, 400 pp, US$29.95 (hardcover), ISBN 9780691145686
Afghanistan: The 2014 Vote and the Troubled Future of Elections
(The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 2015-03) Coburn, Noah
The September 2014 power-sharing agreement between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah only partially resolved the political crisis that followed Afghanistan’s disputed presidential elections. The compromise of Ghani’s inauguration as president and Abdullah’s appointment to the new role of chief executive officer ended a stand-off that had threatened a political collapse, but in-fighting has continued to impede the day-to-day functions of government. The post-election crisis, and the extraconstitutional negotiations it generated, highlighted the weakness of the legal framework, which was unable to provide an effective, transparent transfer of power. A timely assessment of the flawed 2014 transition is needed if stakeholders are to address the concerns arising from it and prevent further damage to democratic institutions. This is of particular relevance for the management of future votes, including upcoming parliamentary elections. The 2014 crisis has created opportunities for reform, in part by disrupting a political system reliant on patronage. Popular dissatisfaction with the status quo could create space for devolution of some powers to local levels. The crisis has also potentially provided the United Nations with a more central role in supporting democratization. Obstacles to reform include the timing of parliamentary polls in 2015 and the weakness of the electoral agencies that oversaw the 2014 transition. A commitment to transparent elections by the Afghan government, the ruling elite and the international community is imperative. Failure to undertake reform will undermine the notion of democratic elections for the Afghan public.
Analytic torsion and Faddeev-Popov ghosts
(2002) McIntyre, Andrew
The regularized determinant of the Laplacian on n-differentials on a hyperbolic Riemann surface is studied. The main result is an intrinsic characterization of the connection form for the determinant line bundle, endowed with the Quillen metric, over the Teichmüller space, in terms of the Green’s function of the Cauchy-Riemann operator. Further, an explicit series representation of that Green’s function, on a Schottky uniformization of the surface, is established. This is a rigorous version of physical heuristics due to Martinec and Verlinde & Verlinde, relating the determinant to the stress-energy tensor of Faddeev-Popov ghost fields on the Riemann surface. One corollary is a simpler proof of the rigorous hyperbolic Belavin-Knizhnik formula, due to Zograf and Takhtajan, which is an intrinsic characterization of the curvature form of the determinant line bundle with Quillen metric. Another corollary is a proof of an explicit holomorphic factorization formula for n = 1 and genus greater than 1, due to Zograf, which generalizes the well known formula for n = 1 and genus 1 relating the determinant of the Laplacian to the Dedekind eta function.
The Art of Making Do in Naples by Jason Pine
(University of Rhode Island, 2014) Alfano, Barbara
A book review of The Art of Making Do in Naples by Jason Pine. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2012.
Beliefs Predicting Peace, Beliefs Predicting War: Jewish Americans and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
(Wiley, 2013-12) Ben Hagai, Ella; Zurbriggen, Eileen L.; Hammack, Phillip L.; Ziman, Megan
Jewish Americans’ beliefs about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can serve either to inhibit or to facilitate the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Attitudes toward conflict resolution and beliefs about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its origins were assessed among a sample of 177 Jewish Americans. Endorsement of a monolithic view of the conflict represented the strongest predictor of non-compromising attitudes toward the Palestinians. Endorsement of dehumanizing and delegitimizing statements about the Palestinians predicted non-compromising attitudes to a much lesser extent. A zero-sum view of the conflict and beliefs about collective victimhood did not predict non-compromising attitudes toward conflict resolution. Findings are discussed in terms of their challenge to theories of collective victimhood in conflict settings and their support for the centrality of narrative in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
Between Tikkun Olam and Self-Defense: Young Jewish Americans Debate the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
(PsychOpen, 2017) Ben Hagai, Ella; Zurbriggen, Eileen L.
In this study, we examined processes associated with ingroup members’ break from their ingroup and solidarity with the outgroup. We explored these processes by observing the current dramatic social change in which a growing number of young Jewish Americans have come to reject Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. We conducted a yearlong participant observation and in-depth interviews with 27 Jewish American college students involved in Israel advocacy on a college campus. Findings suggest that Jewish Americans entering the Jewish community in college came to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a lens of Jewish vulnerability. A bill proposed by Palestinian solidarity organizations to divest from companies associated with Israel (part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions or BDS movement) was also interpreted through the lens of Israel's vulnerability. As the college’s Student Union debated the bill, a schism emerged in the Jewish community. Some Jewish students who had a strong sense of their Jewish identity and grounded their Judaism in principles of social justice exhibited a greater openness to the Palestinian narrative of the conflict. Understanding of Palestinian dispossession was associated with the rejection of the mainstream Jewish establishment’s unconditional support of Israel. Moreover, dissenting Jewish students were concerned that others in the campus community would perceive them as denying the demands of people of color. We discuss our observations of the process of social change in relation to social science theories on narrative acknowledgment and collective action.
Border Crossings Ink in the Gutter: Comics and Migration to Catalonia
(2020) Harris, Sarah D.
Brideshead Remodernized
(The Evelyn Waugh Society, 2003) Pitcher, Jonathan
Can Sea Urchins Beat the Heat? Sea Urchins, Thermal Tolerance and Climate Change
(PeerJ, 2015-06-09) Sherman, Elizabeth
The massive die-off of the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, a significant reef grazer, in the mid 1980s was followed by phase shifts from coral dominated to macroalgae dominated reefs in the Caribbean.While Diadema populations have recovered in some reefs with concomitant increases in coral cover, the additional threat of increasing temperatures due to global climate change has not been investigated in adult sea urchins. In this study, I measured acute thermal tolerance of D. antillarum and that of a sympatric sea urchin not associated with coral cover, Echinometra lucunter, over winter, spring, and summer, thus exposing them to substantial natural thermal variation. Animals were taken from the wild and placed in laboratory tanks in room temperature water (∼22 ◦C) that was then heated at 0.16–0.3 ◦C min−1 and the righting behavior of individual sea urchins was recorded. I measured both the temperature at which the animal could no longer right itself (TLoR) and the righting time at temperatures below the TLoR. In all seasons, D. antillarum exhibited a higher mean TLoR than E. lucunter. The mean TLoR of each species increased with increasing environmental temperature revealing that both species acclimatize to seasonal changes in temperatures. The righting times of D. antillarum weremuch shorter than those of E. lucunter. The longer relative spine length of Diadema compared to that of Echinometra may contribute to their shorter righting times, but does not explain their higher TLoR. The thermal safety margin (the difference between the mean collection temperature and the mean TLoR) was between 3.07–3.66 ◦C for Echinometra and 3.79–5.67 ◦C for Diadema. While these thermal safety margins exceed present day temperatures, they are modest compared to those of temperate marine invertebrates. If sea temperatures increase more rapidly than can be accommodated by the sea urchins (either by genetic adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, or both), this will have important consequences for the structure of coral reefs.
'Clothes make an awful difference in a girl': MIIe. Modiste, Irene and Funny Face as Cinderella fashion musicals
(Intellect Journals, 2015) Cantu, Maya
The world of fashion has been a frequent setting for the many Broadway musicals inspired by Charles Perrault’s Cinderella (1697). Using two Broadway musicals and one Hollywood musical as cross-historical case studies, this article examines how the American musical has variously adapted and interpreted themes of ‘clothes make the woman’ by posing Cinderella as a shop girl or model in fields of consumer fashion. The 1905 Victor Herbert/Henry Blossom operetta Mlle. Modiste, and the 1919 Cinderella musical Irene (by James Montgomery, Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy) both assert the democratizing power of fashion. In Mlle. Modiste, the resourceful title character uses both her singing talent and her access to stylish clothing to rise in the world as an opera diva, as well as a viscount’s wife. Irene emphasizes themes of masquerade and meritocracy, as the eponymous Irish American shop girl models dresses for couturier ‘Madame Lucy’, fools high society as a pedigreed lady and marries her Prince Charming. By contrast, the 1957 Paramount movie musical Funny Face problematizes its heroine’s fashion-world makeover. While Funny Face’s narrative depicts the transformation of Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn), a bookish ‘Greenwich Village Cinderella’, into a glamorous Paris mannequin, Funny Face’s musical numbers, use strategies of camp and parody to undercut the concept of ‘The Quality Woman’.
Connecting with Kabul: The Importance of the Wolesi Jirga Election and Local Political Networks in Afghanistan
(Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), 2010-05) Coburn, Noah
There is a renewal of interest in the lower house of Afghanistan’s parliament, known as the Wolesi Jirga, taking place in both Afghan domestic politics and international discussion about governance in Afghanistan. This is particularly in the wake of the house’s rejection of a significant number of ministerial nominees, its opposition to President Hamid Karzai’s recent election decree and its initial refusal to ratify the national budget. With an evolving relationship with the executive branch, and elections currently scheduled for 18 September 2010, there are many questions about the role of the Wolesi Jirga in national and local politics that have not been considered carefully enough. And despite widespread concern about fraud and corruption during the 2009 presidential and provincial council elections, there is little consensus on what lessons were learned from those elections or what parliamentary elections mean for politics in Afghanistan.
Crude Domination: An Anthropology of Oil
(Wiley, 2013) Bond, David
A review of the book Crude Domination: An Anthropology of Oil. Andrea Behrends, Stephen Reyna, and Günther Schlee, eds. New York: Berghahn Books, 2013. 325 pp.
Déjà-Vu All Over Again
(The Evelyn Waugh Society, 2005) Pitcher, Jonathan
Book review of Radicals on the Road: The Politics of English Travel Writing in the 1930s by Bernard Schweizer. Charlottesville, VA: UP of Virginia, 2001. 216 pp.
Dense Cloud Ablation and Ram Pressure Stripping of the Virgo Spiral NGC 4402
(The American Astronomical Society, 2005-07) Crowl, Hugh H.; Kenney, Jeffrey D. P.; van Gorkom, J. H.; Vollmer, Bernd
We present optical, H i, and radio continuum observations of the highly inclined Virgo Cluster Sc galaxy NGC 4402, which show evidence for ram pressure stripping and dense cloud ablation. Very Large Array H i and radio continuum maps show a truncated gas disk and emission to the northwest of the main disk emission. In particular, the radio continuum emission is asymmetrically extended to the north and skewed to the west. The H image shows numerous H ii complexes along the southern edge of the gas disk, possibly indicating star formation triggered by the intracluster medium (ICM) pressure. Our BVR images at 0B5 resolution obtained with the WIYN Tip-Tilt Imager show a remarkable dust lane morphology: at half the optical radius, the dust lane of the galaxy curves up and out of the disk, matching the H i morphology. Large dust plumes extend upward for 1.5 kpc from luminous young star clusters at the southeast edge of the truncated gas disk. These star clusters are very blue, indicating very little dust reddening, which suggests dust blown away by an ICM wind at the leading edge of the interaction. To the south of the main ridge of interstellar material, where the galaxy is relatively clean of gas and dust, we have discovered 1 kpc long linear dust filaments with a position angle that matches the extraplanar radio continuum tail; we interpret this angle as the projected ICM wind direction. One of the observed dust filaments has an H ii region at its head.We interpret these dust filaments as large, dense clouds that were initially left behind as the low-density interstellar medium was stripped but were then ablated by the ICM wind. These results provide striking new evidence on the fate of molecular clouds in stripped cluster galaxies.
Diverse Cellular Functions of the Hsp90 Molecular Chaperone Uncovered Using Systems Approaches
(Elsevier, 2007-10) McClellan, Amie J.; Xia, Yu; Deutschbauer, Adam M.; Davis, Ron W.; Gerstein, Mark; Frydman, Judith
A comprehensive understanding of the cellular functions of the Hsp90 molecular chaperone has remained elusive. Although Hsp90 is essential, highly abundant under normal conditions, and further induced by environmental stress, only a limited number of Hsp90 ‘‘clients’’ have been identified. To define Hsp90 function, a panelofgenome-wide chemical-genetic screens in Saccharomyces cerevisiae were combined with bioinformatic analyses. This approach identified several unanticipated functions of Hsp90 under normal conditions and in response to stress. Under normal growth conditions, Hsp90 plays a major role in various aspects of the secretory pathway and cellular transport; during environmental stress, Hsp90 is required for the cell cycle, meiosis, and cytokinesis. Importantly, biochemical and cell biological analyses validated several of these Hsp90-dependent functions, highlighting the potential of our integrated global approach to uncover chaperone functions in the cell.
Electoral Turnout in Afghanistan: An Act of Defiance?
(The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 2014-04) Larson, Anna; Coburn, Noah
This paper, the second of three on voter perceptions in the Afghan elections, analyses the reactions of a select group of Afghans to the elections in urban areas. It is based upon ongoing research and data collected in the weeks before and during the elections. This has been undertaken by experienced Afghan and international researchers who covered the 2009/10 elections in the same areas of Kabul, allowing for comparative analysis. Respondents included a broad sample of voters, young and old, literate and illiterate, male and female, from a range of occupations, ethnic groups and backgrounds.
Emollient Schisms
(The Evelyn Waugh Society, 2012) Pitcher, Jonathan
Book review of Atlantic Republic: The American Tradition in English Literature by Paul Giles. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006.
Et in Arcadia Non Ego
(The Evelyn Waugh Society, 2004) Pitcher, Jonathan
A book review of Evelyn Waugh: A Literary Biography, 1924-1966, by John Howard Wilson. Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 2001. 198 pp.
Fluid circulation and carbonate vein precipitation in the footwall of an oceanic core complex, Ocean Drilling Program Site 175, Mid-Atlantic Ridge
(Wiley American Geophysical Union, 2015-10) Schroeder, Timothy; Bach, Wolfgang; Jöns, Niels; Jöns, Svenja; Monien, Patrick; Klügel, Andreas
Carbonate veins recovered from the mafic/ultramafic footwall of an oceanic detachment fault on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge record multiple episodes of fluid movement through the detachment and secondary faults. High-temperature ( ~75–175° C) calcite veins with elevated REE contents and strong positive Euanomalies record the mixing of up-welling hydrothermal fluids with infiltrating seawater. Carbonate precipitation is most prominent in olivine-rich troctolite, which also display a much higher degree of greenschist and sub-greenschist alteration relative to gabbro and diabase. Low-temperature calcite and aragonite veins likely precipitated from oxidizing seawater that infiltrated the detachment fault and/or within secondary faults late or post footwall denudation. Oxygen and carbon isotopes lie on a mixing line between seawater and Logatchev-like hydrothermal fluids, but precipitation temperatures are cooler than would be expected for isenthalpic mixing, suggesting conductive cooling during upward flow. There is no depth dependence of vein precipitation temperature, indicating effective cooling of the footwall via seawater infiltration through fault zones. One sample contains textural evidence of low-temperature, seawater-signature veins being cut by high-temperature, hydrothermal-signature veins. This indicates temporal variability in the fluid mixing, possibly caused by deformation-induced porosity changes or dike intrusion. The strong correlation between carbonate precipitation and olivine-rich troctolites suggests that the presence of unaltered olivine is a key requirement for carbonate precipitation from seawater and hydrothermal fluids. Our results also suggest that calcite-talc alteration of troctolites may be a more efficient CO2 trap than serpentinized peridotite.

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