The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia's Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB
Andrei Soldatov – a journalist who has covered Russia's security services for more than a decade – penetrates the secret world of the FSB to illustrate how, abetted by their most famous alumnus Vladimir Putin, the security services were given unprecedented rein, and emerged a more shadowy and powerful force than the Soviet KGB. Andrei Soldatov and his The New Nobility co-author Irina Borogan are-founders of Agentura.ru, a highly respected website covering the Russian security services. Solda
The Rights' Future
Conor Gearty joins invited guests to initiate The Rights' Future a collaborative writing project aimed at the production of a book to be launched at LSE's literary festival early in 2011. Starting this evening with his RIGHTS' MANIFESTO, Gearty will release a series of weekly essays onto the web which will probe the history of human rights, address their present state in the world and map out some of the possible futures that await this morally important but highly contested phrase.
21M.294 Popular Musics of the World (MIT)
This course focuses on popular music, i.e. music created for and transmitted by mass media. Various popular music genres from around the world will be studied through listening, reading and written assignments, with an emphasis on class discussion. In particular, we will consider issues of musical change, syncretism, Westernization, globalization, the impact of recording industries, and the post-colonial era. Case studies will include Afro-pop, reggae, bhangra, rave, and global hip-hop.
Gooseneck barnacles in rock crevices
Gooseneck barnacles do not move and rely on surrounding waters for food and nutrients. They have strong, hard, and sharp shells that keep predators from walking on them. They resist drying out and are found in all the intertidal zones.
SP.251 PE for ME (MIT)
The sensing, thinking, moving body is the basis of our experience in the world; it is the very foundation on which cognitive intelligence is built. Physical Intelligence, then, is the inherent ability of the human organism to function in extraordinary accord with its physical environment. This class--a joint DAPER/ME offering for both PE and academic credit--uses the MIT gymnastics gym as a laboratory to explore Physical Intelligence as applied to ME and design. Readings, discussions and experie
MAS.962 Special Topics in Media Technology: Computational Semantics (MIT)
How do words get their meanings? How can word meanings be represented and used by machines? We will explore three families of approaches to these questions from a computational perspective. Relational / structural methods such as semantic networks represent the meaning of words in terms of their relations to other words. Knowledge of the world through perception and action leads to the notion of external grounding, a process by which word meanings are 'attached' to the world. How an agent theori
6.829 Computer Networks (MIT)
How does the global network infrastructure work and what are the design principles on which it is based? In what ways are these design principles compromised in practice? How do we make it work better in today's world? How do we ensure that it will work well in the future in the face of rapidly growing scale and heterogeneity? And how should Internet applications be written, so they can obtain the best possible performance both for themselves and for others using the infrastructure? These are so
How Individual Rights Transformed World Politics
Have individual rights transformed world politics? Prof. Reus-Smit challenges the circumscribed nature of this debate, arguing the relationship between individual rights and world politics has a longer history and is more fundamental than it suggests. Have individual rights transformed world politics? Debate on this question has focused to date on the efficacy, or lack thereof, of the international human rights regime. Prof. Reus-Smit challenges the circumscribed nature of this debate, arguing t
Depiction of terrorism in film and television
In this podcast, Professor Roberta Pearson from the School of American and Canadian Studies, discusses the fictional representation of terrorism in modern day television programmes and why more and more people are using fiction instead of the news to inform their opinions of world events. Professor Pearson considers the frequent engagement of modern audiences with such television series’ as ‘24’ and ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and how these common cultural experiences should not be underest
Business Project
The aim of the Business Project is to give students the opportunity to combine work experience and investigation into an authentic business challenge, with a more in-depth research report. This not only offers links with potential employers but demonstrates understanding of the application of business principles in a real-world situation.
Local Development Team Cook Book
The Cook Book builds on the concept of working with cross cultural, remote teams. It was created and supported by development teams all around the world based on Web 2.0 methods. These teams have the identified common problems, outlined solution and developed content to ensure that problems are solved once. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
21A.231J Gender, Sexuality, and Society (MIT)
This course seeks to examine how people experience gender - what it means to be a man or a woman - and sexuality in a variety of historical and cultural contexts. We will explore how gender and sexuality relate to other categories of social identity and difference, such as race and ethnicity, economic and social standing, urban or rural life, etc. One goal of the class is to learn how to critically assess media and other popular representations of gender roles and stereotypes. Another is to gain
Researching solutions to global water shortages
Director of the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Clean Water Technologies. Making sure the world’s population has enough drinking water is one of the biggest challenges we face today. A rapidly increasing global population, the fact that only a very small percentage of global water is available for consumption and an uneven global distribution of clean drinking water are the main problems in regard to the current global water crisis. Professor Hilal discusses these problems and some of
Estudo sobre o cognitivismo e o hipertexto, e a disponibiliza??o de material did?tico na internet [A
Internet has made the use of computer based teaching tools more popular then ever. Little attention has been paid to methods for providing schoolbooks in hypertext environment, though. The objective of this research was to develop propositions of methods and tools specifically for presenting textbook in interactive digital environments, paying attention to the characteristics and demands of contemporary youth and the characteristics and potentialities of hypertext systems, specially its associat
Economics of Social Policy
Economics offers powerful insights into the world in which we live. This level 2/3 economics course aims: • To remind students of some of the economic theory that they have studied in previous modules, in particular the circumstances in which private markets will allocate resources efficiently • To consider the justification for Government intervention in resource allocation • To explain the circumstances in which insurance markets will operate efficiently • To apply the theory to attain
Cubic Spline Curve Fitting with Controlled End Conditions
Another method for cubic spline curve fitting. It is a more flexible version of a proven technique by using a set of end conditions suggested by Nutbourne. The advantages and disadvantages of several techniques are clarified and sample graphical output is given. The result should be of interest to users of inexpensive computer graphics equipment who are interested in improving passive graphical output
The 2007 Carnegie Lecture - Dee Caffari's lecture, 'Dare, dream, discover, inspire'
In May 2006, Dee became the first woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds and currents, completing the Aviva Challenge. Having won the 2007 Raymarine YJA Yachtsman of the Year Award, Dee plans to enter the 2008/9 Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race. Leeds Met is delighted that Dee has chosen a team of sport scientists from Leeds Met's Centre for Performance Sport to support her physiological, nutritional and psychological preparations for the challenge. Th
The Falls and Fossils of Ohio
In this video from KET, stroll along the Falls of the Ohio River, one of the largest exposed fossil beds in the world, and imagine what this part of the Midwest looked like during the Devonian Period 387 million years ago. Fossil evidence of corals and other marine organisms indicate the region was located in the tropics and was covered by a warm, shallow sea.
Inaugural Lecture Prof Nick Frost - Assessing Modern British Childhood: research, policy and practic
This lecture explored the contemporary policy agenda for children and young people living in England. The major focus of the lecture was on the relationship between the state and modern childhood. The lecture then moved on to examine the state of contemporary British childhood. A series of recent research and policy reports have suggested that British children inhabit a world that compares negatively to children in otherwise comparable societies. Childhood and youth are also a high profile and f
INN Guest Lecture - The Whiskas Story
Innovation North Music Production graduate Samuel Nicholls, aka Whiskas, came to Headingley Campus on Wednesday 18th November, to talk about his experience of working in the music industry. Samuel has toured in bands and worked as a promoter, manager, producer and record label boss. Whiskas began promoting bands by setting up Transmission with Andy Roberts, putting on bands that included The Artic Monkeys, Good Life and The Subways. The success of the partnership evolved into record label, Dance
