17.504 Ethnic Politics I (MIT)
This course is designed to provide students with a broad overview of the major theories on the relationship between ethnicity and politics. The course is divided into three sections. The first covers general theory and discusses the social construction of ethnicity as well as the limits of construction. The second section discusses ethnicity as a dependent variable. This section studies the forces that shape the development of ethnic identities and their motivating power. The third section addre
Women in Islamic Societies
This course serves as a broad survey of women's and gender issues within the contexts of multiple societies in the Islamic world. The first half of the semester will concentrate on the historical position of women in Islamic societies, defined by the normative values of Islam and by cultural traditions and norms that were sometimes at odds with religious prescriptions. We will discuss how the interpretations of these values in diverse circumstances and who gets to do the interpreting have had im
The case for embryo research
Professor of reproductive biology at Warwick Medical School Justin St John explains why his proposed work into using very early stage hybrid human-animal embryos for research is necessary.
For more details see www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/research/csri/reproductive_biology/
The Post American World
Global power is shifting, and wealth and power are bubbling up in unexpected places. Fareed Zakaria considers not so much the decline of America, but the impact of the rise of "the rest". This transition of power will redefine America's role as the arbiter of the world's political, economic, and cultural issues and force it to accommodate new heavyweights. Zakaria offers an illuminating view of our increasingly complicated future, the growing influence of rapidly developing nations, and how thes
Zimbabwe: Beyond the Endgame
As talks between Mr Mugabe and both factions of the Movement for Democratic Change open in South Africa, the crisis in Zimbabwe continues. Western countries are pushing for more sanctions against Zimbabwe's rulers, while President Mbeki and the African Union oppose them. Meanwhile, the shrinking economy provides Mr Mugabe with less and less to pay the army, police and administrators. The June 27 presidential run-off was dubbed the endgame. It proved just another stage in Zimbabwe's unfolding cat
A Conversation between Bill Gates Sr. and Howard Davies
Bill Gates Sr., is a prominent lawyer, civil activist, and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is the author of Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime, a memoir that shares reflections on lessons from a lifetime of "showing up" - lessons he learned growing up during the Great Depression, and that he instilled in his children and continues to practice on the world stage as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Ghosts, Witches and Portents in Early Modern Europe: Seminar 22: Witches on Stage (and Screen)
Ghosts, Witches and Portents in Early Modern Europe: Seminar 22: Witches on Stage (and Screen)
Block's Building Blocks [Foreword to Building Blocks for Liberty] Murray Rothbard, in his life, was known as Mr. Libertarian. We can make a solid case that the title now belongs to Walter Block, a student of Rothbard's w
Essential Art, Spiritual Art (Jacob Lawrence/ George Tsutakawa)
Upon Reflection hosts two of the most prominent University of Washington artists, the late Jacob Lawrence and George Tsutakawa, in this 1990 interview with host Al Page. Lawrence, whose namesake was used for the UW School of Art Gallery, talks about his paintings of African Americans while Tsutakawa reveals his own work on fountains and architecture.
STUDIO@TEMPLE
This paper describes our approach to the first year design studio and the way we employ, utilize and integrate digital media in the Architecture Program at Temple.
Algorithm for the geometric construction of an optimum shading device
Given that there is a need to shade a window from the summer sun and also a need to expose it to the winter sun, this article describes an algorithm to design automatically a geometric construct that satisfies both requirements. The construct obtained represents the minimum solution to the simultaneous requirements. The window may be described by an arbitrary convex polygon and it may be oriented in any direction, and it may be placed at any chosen latitude. The algorithm consists of two sequent
The Architect's Use of the Internet - Study of the Architectural Presentation Possibilities
The Internet media is opening new horizons in communication and representation in architecture. However, its use today is superficial, limited, and without creativity. This study will explore theories, methods and examples of how the virtual space of the Internet can be used in its full potential. That means to present ways of observing, understanding, interacting, and communicating the space without precedents in architecture. The existent presentations made by architects in the Internet are in
Shared, Collective, Generative, Dynamic Virtual Environments - Geneve
In this project we plan to create an experimental novel medium setup for the study of the ?presence? experience in shared, collective, generative, dynamic virtual environments (GENEVEs) in order to study the cross interactions between a given GENEVE and/among its creators/users and to explore the logic of presence in each GENEVE. The new shareable / generative media will try to add personal creativity and social dimension to telefruition of contents. For the European Industry having a leading ed
Intervenir la imagen... o el espejo m?gico (Intervene the image... or the magic mirror)
"A technology is interactive to the degree that it reflects the consequences of our actions or decisions back to us. It follows that an interactive technology is a medium through which we communicate with ourselves... a mirror" The purpose of this work is to explore the implications of interactive media through the review of "Utop?a" digital, an interactive piece that explore the implied transformation of the relationship between art and audience and new forms of perception. The artists' role is
Virtual Graffiti Three-Dimensional Paint Tools for Conceptual Modeling in Upfront
This chapter describes several limitations present in current 3-D programs used for conceptual design and then introduces a new threedimensional paint tool, as implemented in a beta version of Alias Upfront, that attempts to deal with some of those limitations.
Automation of Passive Solar Design System
This research, focus on the automation of passive solar design system using computational method. The quantitative nature of passive solar design system makes the automation possible. The automation is done in stages, because implementing the passive solar design system is not an isolated process, but intertwined with the overall design process. The first phase of automation concentrates in conceptual stage, to avoid major deviations in later stages of the design. The conceptual stage use Eco-gr
ICAtect-II: a framework for the integration of building design tools
The development of a system capable of integrating a range of building design tools poses many challenges. Our framework for integrating design tools provides a structured approach, allowing individual parts to be developed independently. In this paper, we describe the overall framework and suggest a method for modeling and implementing each portion of the framework. Furthermore, we illustrate how such a system can integrate several design tools and be realized as a functional design system.
Automatic Procedures for Bio-Climatic Control
The experiences illustrated here are related to the new regulation of teaching architecture in Italy and these ones in particular have been concentrated on the technological aspects of teaching architecture. We can consider the evolution of the architect from the individual operator to the manager multi- disciplinary aspects of the building process ( building process manager) as a reality today. Information technology, specifically applied to bio-climatic architecture and environmental control,
Computer Aided Environmental Solutions: Evaluation of Optimum Building Orientation in Lahore, Pakist
One of the primary features of solar passive design is the orientation of a building on a particular latitude. The client of Information Technology demands testing, validity, practicality and sustainability of a building project before execution. The computer based simulations are the only practical way to predict the complex energy performance and analysis for a large number of passive design solutions. This paper investigates the optimum residential building orientation having various zones, l
Embodiment and Illusion: The Implications of Scale as a Cue for Immersion in Virtual Environments
This paper examines the extent to which the issue of scale impinges on our sense of immersion in virtual environments. We consider perception from the point of view of Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, and describe a study involving extended interviews of a small number of subjects who were presented with static, moving and interactive images of spaces. We test a series of propositions about scale cues, and speculate on the wider phenomenological issues of expectation, metaphor and play.
