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Melville’S Economy Of Language, Paul Royster

Paul Royster

This essay discusses two works by American writer Herman Melville: Moby-Dick (1851) and Pierre (1852), with emphasis on the uses of economic metaphors and on the issues of labor and alienation in the production of whale oil and of literature. Its argument is that Melville considered the mythology of American capitalism positively in the earlier work, and negatively in the later one. Moby-Dick explores the economic relations of the (capitalist) production of whale oil and converts them to metaphors for metaphysical truths. Pierre explores the economic relations involved in the production of literature and exposes the extent to which a …

The Strange, Charles Hartman

English Faculty Publications

Presents the poem "The Strange," by Charles O. Hartman. First Line: fungus raised by the night's rain; Last Line: thread cubic miles of humus.

Late Autumn Labyrinth, Angie Losacco

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Effect Of A Wildlife Conservation Camp Experience In China On Student Knowledge Of Animals, Care, Propensity For Environmental Stewardship, And Compassionate Behavior Toward Animals, Sarah Marie Bexell

Early Childhood and Elementary Education Dissertations

ABSTRACT EFFECT OF A WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CAMP EXPERIENCE IN CHINA ON STUDENT KNOWLEDGE OF ANIMALS, CARE, PROPENSITY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, AND COMPASSIONATE BEHAVIOR TOWARD ANIMALS by Sarah M. Bexell The goal of conservation education is positive behavior change toward animals and the environment. This study was conducted to determine whether participation in a wildlife conservation education camp was effective in positively changing 8-12 year old students’: (a) knowledge of animals, (b) care about animals, (c) propensity for environmental and wildlife stewardship, and (d) compassionate behavior toward animals. During the summer of 2005, 2 five-day camps were conducted at 2 zoological …

The Daily Gamecock, Thursday, October 12, 2006, University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

October

No abstract provided.

Liberty Of Ecological Conscience, Aaron Lercher

Faculty Publications

Our concern for nonhuman nature can be justified in terms of a human right to liberty of ecological conscience. This right is analogous to the right to religious liberty, and is equally worthy of recognition as that fundamental liberty. The liberty of ecological conscience, like religious liberty, is a negative right against interference. Each ecological conscience supports a claim to protection of the parts of nonhuman nature that are current or potential sites of its active pursuit of natural value. If we acknowledge the fallibility of each conscience in its pursuit of genuine natural value, a policy of indefinitely extensive …

Spirituality: A Womanist Reading Of Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter", Xiumei Pu

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

This thesis investigates the womanist theme of spirituality in Amy Tan’s novel, The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Spirituality unfolds in five linked themes: ghosts, ghostwriting, nature, bones, and memory. In structure, the thesis is composed of four parts. The Introduction proposes spirituality as a womanist way of reading The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Chapter one investigates how the spirit of Gu Liu Xin, the Chinese grandmother, plays a critical role in developing the psychological integrity of Ruth Luyi Young, the American-born Chinese granddaughter. The second chapter examines how Gu Liu Xin’s ghost helps to guide LuLing Liu Young, Liu Xin’s daughter and Ruth’s mother, …

Animism In Whitman: "Multitudes" Of Interpretations?, Rachelle Helene Woodbury

Theses and Dissertations

Walt Whitman used animistic techniques in his poetry and prose, specifically "Song of the Redwood Tree," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," and Specimen Days. The term animism can be traced to the Latin root of the word, anime, which connotes a "soul" or "vitality." So, when one is talking about animistic techniques, one is speaking of the (metaphoric or realistic) ensoulment of natural objects. In the wake of a growing global crisis modern scholarship has begun reexamining the implications of this belief; often it introduces ambiguities into an otherwise comfortable relationship of unquestioned human domination. In Specimen Days, Whitman …

The Earth, Energy, And Agriculture, Tad W. Patzek

Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

Presenter: Tad W. Patzek, Professor of Petroleum Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.

13 pages (includes some color illustrations).

Contains references.

The Trope Of Nature In Latin American Literature: Some Examples , Becky Boling

Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature

The article examines the trope of nature through selected texts from Latin American literature, from the writings of Christopher Columbus to more contemporary narratives such as those by Luis Sepúlveda and Mayra Montero. It focuses on the transition in the manner in which writers conceive of the "natural" world within their particular ideological contexts. From early manifestations of Utopian writing to texts extolling urbanization and development, the trope of nature undergoes several permutations which say a great deal about the ideological contexts of the writers and their conceptualization of the place of humans in the scheme of things. Late 20th …

Of Rabbits And Raspberries, Tara Cobb

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

The Predicament Of Nature: Keiko The Whale And The Cultural Politics Of Whaling In Iceland, Anne Brydon

Anthropology Faculty Publications

This cultural analysis reconsiders the modernist narrative about the politics of whales and whale hunting in order to explore Icelandic responses to the return of the killer whale Keiko (star of the Free Willy movies) to Icelandic waters in 1998. Ambivalence about Keiko’s plight required cultural creativity to block identification with the whale since in Icelandic hegemonic discourse such feelings have been associated with the supposed irrationality of foreign protests against whale hunting. This essay draws on Bruno Latour’s writings about the politics of nature to argue for abandoning nature in a step toward the ethnographic study of human-nonhuman relations.

The George-Anne, Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne

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Nature And Mystical Identity: Three Journeys To The Absolute, Mayada Mahmoud Al Shereef

Archived Theses and Dissertations

This thesis demonstrates three kinds of the Absolute and three different ways of approaching them. Farid Ud-Din Attar, Kate Chopin and Theodore Roethke take different roads to reach their Absolute. Similarities among the three works tackled in this thesis are represented by the role of nature in the spiritual journey to attain a mystical identity, and by having an ultimate goal of the journey called the "Absolute" . On the other hand, differences are represented by the different definitions of the Absolute that the three authors offer. This thesis also presents different notions like annihilation, unity and illumination that the …

Paradoxes And Puzzles: Appreciating Gardens And Urban Nature, Stephanie Ross

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

To explore our appreciation of gardens and urban nature, I propose a recursive definition of original or wild nature together with guidelines for discerning degrees of naturalness. Arguing (contra Robert Elliott) that nature can be restored as well as degraded, I characterize four varieties of urban nature - interrupted, altered, constructed, and virtual. I build on Stan Godlovitch's comments about scale to suggest two modes of appreciation - macroscopic and fine-focused. I close by discussing some particular examples - parks, environmental art, gardens - and drawing some conclusions for the appreciation of vernacular gardens.[1]

Healing Interior: Using Eastern Design Principles In Hotel Design, Yunju Lee Koh

Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this thesis is to explore how interior spaces in hotel designs can provide a less stressful environment and promote health and harmony by using Feng Shui Principles. It will first discuss the principles of Feng Shui and general hotel design, and then move on to demonstrate how the application of Feng Shui principles can be used to create a hotel environment that encourages health and harmony in its occupants. This project will demonstrate principles that not only can be applied to hotel space, but also can be practiced in any other interior space. This thesis, therefore, …

Ethnoecology, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Ethnoecology – the study of cultural explications of nature – generates insights into the interface between peoples and the more-than-human world. Ecology is the scientific study of the interrelationships between plants, animals, and the environment, and it has developed into the study of interdependent communities of organisms and their environments. But while most ecologists have been trained to seek knowledge solely from scholarly books or nonhuman nature, tremendous environmental information is stored in the minds, cultures, and arts of indigenous peoples.

Geophilia, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Extrapolated from E. O. Wilson's concept of biophilia, geophilia asserts that humans have an organic propensity to find wildlands emotionally compelling. It exists as a human tendency to emotionally connect with natural landscapes.

The Art Of Emptiness: Buddhist Nature In Picture Books Of Miyazawa Kenji's Donguri To Yamaneko (Wildcat And The Acorns), Helen Kilpatrick

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933), the author of Donguri to Yamaneko [3], is recognised as one of "the most imaginative spinner[s] of children's stories, of twentieth-century Japan" (Satô xvii). Moreover, Kenji, as he is commonly known, is probably Japan's most renowned Buddhist writer and his work is now taught in schools and universities. [4]He was writing at a time when Japan was undergoing rapid modernisation and much of his work, including Donguri, was created as a protest against the spiritual desolation associated with rampant industrialisation, commodification and consumerism. Donguri should be considered in this context as the story ultimately foregrounds a communion …

Nature Of Subpicosecond Terahertz Pulse Propagation In Practical Dielectric-Filled Parallel-Plate Waveguides, Rajind Mendis

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

It is analytically shown that the presence of submicrometer-sized air gaps between the dielectric and metal contact surfaces in a dielectric-filled metallic parallel-plate waveguide can have a dramatic effect on the guided-wave propagation of subpicosecond terahertz pulses. Through the use of metal-evaporated dielectric surfaces to overcome the imperfect contact problem, and a special air-dielectric-air cascaded waveguide geometry to avoid multimode excitation, undistorted subpicosecond terahertz pulse propagation via the single-TEM mode is demonstrated, for what is believed to be the first time, in a silicon-filled PPWG.

Bruno Latour And The Politics Of Nature, Graham Harman

Faculty Book Chapters

Bruno Latour describes his Politics of Nature as work of political ecology. Its subtitle, "How to Bring the Sciences Into Democracy," suggests a specific and limited topic, albeit an interesting one. Yet what this book really offers is a full system of metaphysics, perhaps the first original system of the new millennium. Latour declares these large ambitions openly. In so doing, he is fully aware of the stones that might be showered upon his parade: he warns us jokingly of "a dreadful specter...the obligation to engage in metaphysics, that is to define in turn how the pluriverse is furnished and …

A Shift In Perspective, Andrew Patrick Ilnicki

Theses and Dissertations

Responsible design practice should include environmental advocacy and a focus on community — subjects often lacking in design education. My creative project is the result of investigations into how designers integrate nature into their design process. By increasing their awareness for communal and environmental advocacy at the undergraduate level, students can develop responsible design practices at the beginning of their career. The result is the student's accumulation of integrity.

Foliage And Fabrication, Carrie Rosicky Garvey

Theses and Dissertations

In my photographic work, I contrast natural and man-made objects abstracted by manipulation of scale. Details of the objects are blown up to proportions larger than life. By distorting the scale, I aim to allow the audience to view the image out of context, enabling the viewer to see it for its aesthetic value rather than the object's functional purpose.

Feng Shui And Neighborhood Development, Kevin Allen Walters

Theses and Dissertations

Planning is a rational process where we rely on training and our five senses, but not so much on our instincts. How can we reclaim this missing element and balance the rational with the intuitive? Feng Shui provides a method for enhancing the current planning process by evaluating the physical form through observation and management of the movement of ch'i energy. The Feng Shui Neighborhood Evaluation checklist, created in Excel, allows the planner to examine the form of a neighborhood to assess the quality of the ch'i. Individual ratings are input for each evaluation point within a category. The Bagua …

Love Of Nature, Marguerite Z. Ratliff

Theses and Dissertations

I stand in awe of nature's beauty. The natural forms and colors of my subjects inspire me to create paintings and three-dimensional clay pieces. As I marvel at God's handiwork, my soul is enriched by the pure sight of His canvas. The rich bright colors of the organic shapes compel me to visually interpret what I experience as an expression of who and what I am, and what I want others to see. My intent is to focus on the elements of the subject matter where the color, shape, and form dominate the space.

The Wakarusa Wave: An Essay On Life, Law, And Urban Kayaking, John W. Ragsdale Jr

Faculty Works

The Wakarusa River, a rather modest watercourse, emerges from confinement behind Clinton Dam, near Lawrence, Kansas, and flows dutifully eastward in a regularized, barren channel. Perhaps a half mile beyond the dam, the Wakarusa begins to reassert itself as a natural waterway; trees appear along the banks and the stream enters a shallow gorge. Midway down lies the Wakarusa Wave, described by some as "the best whitewater spot within 400 miles." At highwater, around 1000 c.f.s., there is a standing wave, a deep trough, and a high, foaming reflex wave, oscillating, and undulating in place over a bottom irregularity, which …

Crimes Against Nature, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is a pleasure for me to be here at St. Thomas and to see so many great legal heroes ensconced in this university, including the president and so many others. As I was signing some copies of my book Crimes Against Nature, it occurred to me that the word “environment” does not appear in the book. I thought I would talk about that today. To me, the environment is the most critical battle because it is the most critical issue in our democracy. Democracy, really all government, is about how we distribute the goods of the land. The best …

Trees, Kara M. Drinkwater

Theses and Dissertations

The intention behind my work is to draw the viewer's attention to the intimate, beautiful details found in nature. For example, I am awed and inspired by the unique qualities found in every tree whose varieties are seemingly infinite. The basic concept of my work is to portray the images of trees close to the viewer's eye to instill a sense of nature's grandness.

Textural Diversity, Paul Eskew

Theses and Dissertations

The sculptures I create reflect the elements of the natural world such as trees, the lumpy bush, clumps of turf. They have imperfect yet fascinating textures, picturesque in form, seemingly fractal in design, working together harmoniously to serve the aesthetic. My sculptures, like these natural shapes, are heavy or thicker toward the bottom and lighter toward the top, like a tree or stone. I strive to echo the mercurial, the animated natural surfaces, and the enticing vignettes one would experience on a woodland stroll.

Natural Selection, Jeffrey A. Vick

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis work is about imagination. I use the collaborative efforts of the viewer's mind and my sculptures, or specimens, to make associations of real life animals. I feel this engages the viewer and in turn invites them to inspect the work on closer level. This is my ultimate goal in the work, to take hold of the viewer's curiosity and have them examine the work on a closer level.