FROM ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL: AN INTERVIEW WITH GOTTFRIED MICHAEL KOENIG

Tempo ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (276) ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Iverson

AbstractGottfried Michael Koenig (b. 1926) is a seminal figure in the history of electronic music. He contributed important technical and musical ideas at WDR studio in Cologne from 1954 to 1964. He was then the director of the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht, Netherlands until 1986. Since 1986, Koenig has continued to compose, to develop complex computer systems, and to edit, translate, and publish his extensive corpus of theoretical writings.1 This conversation, which aims to foster further English-language scholarship on Koenig and his music,2 took place in English in May 2015 at the Institute of Sonology, now located in The Hague, Netherlands.

Author(s):  
David Hardiman

Much of the recent surge in writing about the practice of nonviolent forms of resistance has focused on movements that occurred after the end of the Second World War, many of which have been extremely successful. Although the fact that such a method of civil resistance was developed in its modern form by Indians is acknowledged in this writing, there has not until now been an authoritative history of the role of Indians in the evolution of the phenomenon.The book argues that while nonviolence is associated above all with the towering figure of Mahatma Gandhi, 'passive resistance' was already being practiced as a form of civil protest by nationalists in British-ruled India, though there was no principled commitment to nonviolence as such. The emphasis was on efficacy, rather than the ethics of such protest. It was Gandhi, first in South Africa and then in India, who evolved a technique that he called 'satyagraha'. He envisaged this as primarily a moral stance, though it had a highly practical impact. From 1915 onwards, he sought to root his practice in terms of the concept of ahimsa, a Sanskrit term that he translated as ‘nonviolence’. His endeavors saw 'nonviolence' forged as both a new word in the English language, and as a new political concept. This book conveys in vivid detail exactly what such nonviolence entailed, and the formidable difficulties that the pioneers of such resistance encountered in the years 1905-19.


Author(s):  
John G. Rodden

This is the first English-language study of GDR education and the first book, in any language, to trace the history of Eastern German education from 1945 through the 1990s. Rodden fully relates the GDR's attempt to create a new Marxist nation by means of educational reform, and looks not only at the changing institution of education but at something the Germans call Bildung--the formation of character and the cultivation of body and spirit. The sociology of nation-building is also addressed.


Author(s):  
George L. Parker

This chapter discusses the history of fiction publishing in Canada since 1950. It begins with the arrival of New York publisher Alfred Knopf in Canada in August 1955, a month after the Canadian Writers' Conference was held at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. During the conference, the sorry plight of the English-language book scene was tackled: bookstores, for example, were dominated by British and American authors, and Canadian literature was practically ignored in schools and universities. The chapter examines how many of these complaints were resolved by the 2000s. It considers changes in Canadian fiction from traditional realism towards modernism and postmodernism, and the importance of the New Canadian Library quality paperback series (1958). It also describes other significant developments that reshaped the Canadian book market, including the emergence of independent small presses, Harlequin Enterprises, the proliferation of international conglomerates, the marketing of e-books, and the rise of Amazon.


Volume Nine of this series traces the development of the ‘world novel’, that is, English-language novels written throughout the world, beyond Britain, Ireland, and the United States. Focusing on the period up to 1950, the volume contains survey chapters and chapters on major writers, as well as chapters on book history, publishing, and the critical contexts of the work discussed. The text covers periods from renaissance literary imaginings of exotic parts of the world like Oceania, through fiction embodying the ideology and conventions of empire, to the emergence of settler nationalist and Indigenous movements and, finally, the assimilations of modernism at the beginnings of the post-imperial world order. The book, then, contains chapters on the development of the non-metropolitan novel throughout the British world from the eighteenth to the mid twentieth centuries. This is the period of empire and resistance to empire, of settler confidence giving way to doubt, and of the rise of indigenous and post-colonial nationalisms that would shape the world after World War II.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1768
Author(s):  
Roosa Piitulainen ◽  
Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas

Computer systems for primates to listen to audio have been researched for a long time. However, there is a lack of investigations into what kind of sounds primates would prefer to listen to, how to quantify their preference, and how audio systems and methods can be designed in an animal-focused manner. One pressing question is, if given the choice to control an audio system, would or could primates use such a system. In this study, we design an audio enrichment prototype and method for white-faced sakis that allows them to listen to different sounds in their regular zoo habitat while automatically logging their interactions. Focusing on animal-centred design, this prototype was built from low fidelity testing of different forms within the sakis’ enclosure and gathering requirements from those who care for and view the animal. This process of designing in a participatory manner with the sakis resulted in an interactive system that was shown to be viable, non-invasive, highly interactive, and easy to use in a zoo habitat. Recordings of the sakis’ interactions demonstrated that the sakis triggered traffic audio more than silence, rain sounds, zen, and electronic music. The data and method also highlight the benefit of a longitudinal study within the animals’ own environment to mitigate against the novelty effect and the day-to-day varying rhythm of the animals and the zoo environment. This study builds on animal-centred methods and design paradigms to allow the monitoring of the animals’ behaviours in zoo environments, demonstrating that useful data can be yielded from primate-controlled devices. For the Animal-Computer Interaction community, this is the first audio enrichment system used in zoo contexts within the animals own environment over a long period of time that gives the primate control over their interactions and records this automatically.


2021 ◽  
pp. 154041532110117
Author(s):  
Cheryl A. Smith-Miller ◽  
Diane C. Berry ◽  
Cass T. Miller

Introduction: Evidence suggests that gender may influence many aspects of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) self-management (SM) and we posit that limited English language–proficient Latinx immigrants face additional challenges. Methods: Instruments and semi-structured interviews were used to examine gender differences on health literacy, diabetes knowledge, health-promoting behaviors, diabetes, eating and exercise self-efficacy (SE), and T2DM SM practices among a cohort of limited English language–proficient Latinx immigrants. Statistical and qualitative analysis procedures were performed comparing males and females. Results: Thirty persons participated. Males tended to be older, have higher educational achievement, and more financial security than females. Physiologic measures tended worse among female participants. Health literacy and exercise SE scores were similar, but females scored lower on Eating and Diabetes SE. Forty-seven percent ( n= 9) of the women reported a history of gestational diabetes mellitus and a majority of men ( n = 7) cited difficulty with excessive alcohol. Consumption: Males appeared to receive more SM support compared to females. Females more frequently noted how family obligations and a lack of support impeded their SM. Work environments negatively influenced SM practices. Conclusion: Men and women have unique SM challenges and as such require individualized strategies and support to improve T2DM management.


2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-754
Author(s):  
Barbara Arneil

AbstractIn this address, I examine the lexical, geographic, temporal and philosophical origins of two key concepts in modern political thought: colonies and statistics. Beginning with the Latin word colonia, I argue that the modern ideology of settler colonialism is anchored in the claim of “improvement” of both people and land via agrarian labour in John Locke's labour theory of property in seventeenth-century America, through which he sought to provide an ideological justification for both the assimilation and dispossession of Indigenous peoples. This same ideology of colonialism was turned inward a century later by Sir John Sinclair to justify domestic colonies on “waste” land in Scotland—specifically Caithness (the county within which my own grandparents were tenant farmers). Domestic colonialism understood as “improvement” of people (the “idle” poor and mentally ill and disabled) through engagement in agrarian labour on waste land inside explicitly named colonies within the borders of one's own country was first championed not only by Sinclair but also his famous correspondent, Jeremy Bentham, in England. Sinclair simultaneously coined the word statistics and was the first to use it in the English language. He defined it as the scientific gathering of mass survey data to shape state policies. Bentham embraced statistics as well. In both cases, statistics were developed and deployed to support their domestic colony schemes by creating a benchmark and roadmap for the improvement of people and land as well as a tool to measure the colony's capacity to achieve both over time. I conclude that settler colonialism along with the intertwined origins of domestic colonies and statistics have important implications for the study of political science in Canada, the history of colonialism as distinct from imperialism in modern political thought and the role played by intersecting colonialisms in the Canadian polity.


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