scholarly journals The natural history of musical rhythm: functional and mechanistic theories on the evolution of human rhythm cognition and the relevance of rhythmic animal behaviors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela-Alina Sauciuc ◽  
Tomas Persson ◽  
Elainie Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Systematic Observation ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Musical Rhythm ◽  
Evolutionary Study ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
History Of ◽  
Theoretical Proposal

There has recently been a growing interest to investigate rhythm cognition in nonhuman animals as a way of tracking the evolutionary origins of human musicality - i.e., the ability to perceive, enjoy and produce music. During the last two decades, there has been an explosion of theoretical proposals aimed at explaining why and how humans have evolved into musical beings, and the empirical comparative research has also gained momentum. In this paper, we focus on the rhythmic component of musicality, and review functional and mechanistic theoretical proposals on abilities regarded as prerequisites for perceiving and producing rhythmic structures similar to those encountered in music. For each theoretical proposal we also review supporting and contradictory empirical findings. To acknowledge that the evolutionary study of musicality requires an interdisciplinary approach, our review strives to cover perspectives and findings from as many disciplines as possible. We conclude with a research agenda that highlights relevant, yet thus far neglected topics in the comparative and evolutionary study of rhythm cognition. Specifically, we call for a widened research focus that will include additional rhythmic abilities besides entrainment, additional channels of perception and production besides the auditory and vocal ones, and a systematic focus on the functional contexts in which rhythmic signals spontaneously occur. With this expanded focus, and drawing from systematic observation and experimentation anchored in multiple disciplines, animal research is bound to generate many important insights into the adaptive pressures that forged the component abilities of human rhythm cognition and their (socio-)cognitive and (neuro-)biological underpinnings.

scholarly journals Slavery and Its Transformations: Prolegomena for a Global and Comparative Research Agenda

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 566-598
Author(s):  
Matthias van Rossum
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The Body ◽  
Indonesian Archipelago ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Contemporary Development

AbstractThis article argues that we need to move beyond the “Atlantic” and “formal” bias in our understanding of the history of slavery. It explores ways forward toward developing a better understanding of the long-term global transformations of slavery. Firstly, it claims we should revisit the historical and contemporary development of slavery by adopting a wider scope that accounts for the adaptable and persistent character of different forms of slavery. Secondly, it stresses the importance of substantially expanding the body of empirical observations on trajectories of slavery regimes, especially outside the Atlantic, and most notable in the Indian Ocean and Indonesian Archipelago worlds, where different slavery regimes existed and developed in interaction. Thirdly, it proposes an integrated analytical framework that will overcome the current fragmentation of research perspectives and allow for a more comparative analysis of the trajectories of slavery regimes in their highly diverse formal and especially informal manifestations. Fourth, the article shows how an integrated framework will enable a collaborative research agenda that focuses not only on comparisons, but also on connections and interactions. It calls for a closer integration of the histories of informal slavery regimes into the wider body of existing scholarship on slavery and its transformations in the Atlantic and other more intensely studied formal slavery regimes. In this way, we can renew and extend our understandings of slavery's long-term, global transformations.

From meditation to action – a research agenda for studying informal global rule-making: remarks on ‘Cosmopolitanism, publicity, and the emergence of a “global administrative law”’

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Oliver Westerwinter
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Institutional Architecture ◽  
Global Law ◽  
Rule Making ◽  
Law Making

Abstract Friedrich Kratochwil engages critically with the emergence of a global administrative law and its consequences for the democratic legitimacy of global governance. While he makes important contributions to our understanding of global governance, he does not sufficiently discuss the differences in the institutional design of new forms of global law-making and their consequences for the effectiveness and legitimacy of global governance. I elaborate on these limitations and outline a comparative research agenda on the emergence, design, and effectiveness of the diverse arrangements that constitute the complex institutional architecture of contemporary global governance.

To Understand the Informal (on the Book BY V. L. Tambovtsev “Economics of Informal Institutions”)

2015 ◽  
pp. 151-158
Author(s):  
A. Zaostrovtsev
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Informal Institutions ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Original Classification

The review considers the first attempt in the history of Russian economic thought to give a detailed analysis of informal institutions (IF). It recognizes that in general it was successful: the reader gets acquainted with the original classification of institutions (including informal ones) and their genesis. According to the reviewer the best achievement of the author is his interdisciplinary approach to the study of problems and, moreover, his bias on the achievements of social psychology because the model of human behavior in the economic mainstream is rather primitive. The book makes evident that namely this model limits the ability of economists to analyze IF. The reviewer also shares the author’s position that in the analysis of the IF genesis the economists should highlight the uncertainty and reject economic determinism. Further discussion of IF is hardly possible without referring to this book.

The death of Sergey Esenin: A forensic’s view of the cultural and historical event

2018 ◽  
pp. 153-165
Author(s):  
L. V. Bertovsky ◽  
V. M. Klyueva ◽  
A. L. Lisovetsky
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Know How ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
History Of

Sergey Esenin’s tragic end is widely known and provokes disputes to this day. The official reports put it down as a suicide. The incident could be analyzed more effectively by means of an interdisciplinary approach using the latest forensic know-how. The documented circumstances of Esenin’s death, found in recorded testimonies and interviews, as well as the materials of the Russian National Esenin Committee of Writers, are examined through the author’s own classification of forensically relevant evidence of suicide. The analysis reveals that suicide remains the most probable version. Far from solving this incident for good, these conclusions may become an important forensic contribution to the history of Russian culture.

The Roman Retail Revolution

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. R. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Roman World ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Food And Drink ◽  
Bodies Of Evidence ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The University

Tabernae were ubiquitous among all Roman cities, lining the busiest streets and dominating their most crowded intersections, and in numbers not known by any other form of building. That they played a vital role in the operation of the city—indeed in the very definition of urbanization—is a point too often under-appreciated in Roman studies, or at best assumed. The Roman Retail Revolution is a thorough investigation into the social and economic worlds of the Roman shop. With a focus on food and drink outlets, and with a critical analysis of both archaeological material and textual sources, Ellis challenges many of the conventional ideas about the place of retailing in the Roman city. A new framework is forwarded, for example, to understand the motivations behind urban investment in tabernae. Their historical development is also unraveled to identify three major waves—or, revolutions—in the shaping of retail landscapes. Two new bodies of evidence underpin the volume. The first is generated from the University of Cincinnati’s recent archaeological excavations into a Pompeian neighborhood of close to twenty shop-fronts. The second comes from a field survey of the retail landscapes of more than a hundred cities from across the Roman world. The richness of this information, combined with an interdisciplinary approach to the lives of the Roman sub-elite, results in a refreshingly original look at the history of retailing and urbanism in the Roman world.

Studying National Commemoration and Political Celebrations in Africa: The Online Archive African Independence Days

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. vii-xxviii
Author(s):  
Marie-Christin Gabriel ◽  
Carola Lentz
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Online Archive ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many

AbstractThe Department of Anthropology and African Studies (ifeas) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz hosts a comprehensive archive on African Independence Day celebrations. Created in 2010, the archive is one of the outcomes of a large comparative research project on African national days directed by Carola Lentz. It offers unique insights into practices of as well as debates on national commemoration and political celebrations in Africa. The archive holds more than 28,000 images, including photographs, newspaper articles, documents, and objects from twelve African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, and Tanzania. It primarily consists of an online photo and newspaper archive (https://bildarchiv.uni-mainz.de/AUJ/; https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb07-ifeas-eng/departmental-archives/online-archive-african-independence-days/); some of the material is also stored in the physical archive on African Independence Days at ifeas as well as in the department's ethnographic collection (https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb07-ifeas-eng/ethnographic-collection/). Most of the material concerns recent celebrations, but the collection has been complemented by some documentation of earlier festivities. Archives hold many stories while they also have a story to tell in their own right. This article discusses both aspects. It first traces the history of the Online Archive African Independence Days at ifeas. It then provides an overview of the different categories of material stored in the archive and tells a few of the many stories that the photos, texts and objects contain. We hope to demonstrate that the archive holds a wealth of sources that can be mined for studies on national commemoration and political celebrations in Africa, and, more generally, on practices and processes of nation-building and state-making.

2005 Verriest Medal awarded to Professor John D. Mollon

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (3-4) ◽  
pp. ii-ii
Keyword(s):  
Color Vision ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Visual Neuroscience ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
University Of Cambridge ◽  
Color Vision Tests ◽  
Spectral Coding ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

The International Colour Vision Society awarded the 2005 Verriest Medal to John D. Mollon, Professor of Visual Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, UK. This award is bestowed by the Society to honor long-term contributions to the field of color vision. If the field of color vision were itself a rainbow, then Professor Mollon's contributions cover nearly its full spectrum, including the isolation and elucidation of basic chromatic coding mechanisms and the constraints that they impose on human (and more generally primate) visual performance, the genetic basis of spectral coding mechanisms, the ecological influences on and evolutionary origins of chromatic discrimination. He has been instrumental in the design of several new color vision tests and has extensively exploited abnormal models, both congenital and acquired, to further our understanding of normal mechanisms. He is especially appreciated for his keen and profound sense of the history of science, in particular with respect to the field of color vision. He has been a member of the society for over 25 years and is currently serving on its board of directors. He organized the 2001 ICVS meeting in Cambridge, celebrating the bicentennial of Thomas Young's lecture on color vision.

scholarly journals The dimensions of streaming: toward a typology of an evolving concept

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1210-1225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Storstein Spilker ◽  
Terje Colbjørnsen
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Live Streaming ◽  
General Audience ◽  
Industrial History ◽  
On Demand ◽  
History Of ◽  
Media Research ◽  
Key Dimensions

Based on research on the development of streaming solutions across media forms and industries, this article traces the dynamics and dimensions of the notion of streaming. It theorizes streaming as an evolving concept, and argues against strict, set and limited definitions such as those suggested by Lotz and Herbert et al. A short substantive and industrial history of streaming is provided, recognizing its many manifestations and variations. Five key dimensions are identified, and trends and traits within each of them discussed: (1) professional versus user-generated streaming, (2) legal versus piracy streaming, (3) on-demand versus live streaming, (4) streaming on dedicated versus multi-feature platforms, and (5) niche versus general-audience streaming. The article concludes by pointing out how streaming is a concept that metaphorically unites media research across industries, practices, and media forms, encouraging more comparative research.

The socio-economic and demographic characteristics of port cities: a typology for comparative analysis?

Urban History ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Lee
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Common Factors ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Port Cities ◽  
Dominant Ideology ◽  
Merchant Capital ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACTThis article addresses a range of conceptual issues relating to the history of European port cities in order to construct a framework for comparative research. Port cities played a key role in European urban development and their growth was often determined by common factors. Particular attention is paid to the demography of port cities, their specific labour markets and the dominant ideology of merchant capital. The article establishes a basis for analysing case studies of individual port cities and for exploring their location within the overall process of European urbanization.

Alternative Futures for Forest-Based Nanomaterials

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 197-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Bengston ◽  
Jim Dator ◽  
Michael J. Dockry ◽  
Aubrey Yee
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
The United States ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Alternative Futures ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S

Forestry and forest products research has entered into a robust research agenda focused on creating nano-sized particles and nanoproducts from wood. As wood-based materials can be sustainably produced, the potential of these renewable products could be limitless and include high-end compostable electronics, paint-on solar panels, and lightweight materials for airplanes and cars. Others warn about potential serious negative health and environmental consequences. Either way, wood-based nanomaterials could disrupt forestry as we know it. This article is a summary and analysis of a collaborative research project exploring the futures of wood-based nanomaterials within the context of the futures of forests and forest management within the United States. We start by describing the history of forestry through the lens of the U.S. Forest Service, then describe nanotechnology in general and wood-based nanocellulose specifically. Next, we outline the Manoa School alternative futures method, and how we used it to design and carry out a “complete futures of x” project. Following the Manoa School approach, we describe four alternative futures for forestry and forest management. We conclude with implications for the future of forestry, forests, and forest-based nanomaterials, as well as a discussion on the implementation of a complete “futures of x” project.

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