Showing 1791 - 1800 of 2039 Items
Picturing Creativity: Portraits of Artists, 1860-1960
Date: 1998-01-01
Creator: Laura B. Groves
Access: Open access
- Exhibit organized by Laura B. Groves.
Under the Surface: Surrealist Photography
Date: 2014-01-01
Creator: Andrea Rosen
Access: Open access
- "Accompanies an exhibition of the same name at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, February 27 through June 1, 2014." Foreword by Frank H. Goodyear III; essay: Conceal and reveal : layering techniques in surrealist photography by Andrea Rosen.
Interview with Daniel Lind (Class of 1991) with Marina Henke
Date: 2019-11-09
Creator: Daniel Lind
Access: Open access
- Daniel Lind ('91) describes his path to Bowdoin from New York City. Lind recounts his adjustment to academics during his first years at the College, and how help from his dean gave him the confidence as a scholar to navigate coursework and his sense of place in the classroom. Speaking directly to his time at Bowdoin, Lind emphasizes the importance of having the African American Studies department so linked with the African-American Society, and how this bridging between academics and communal life was crucial for developing a sense of place on campus. Lind expresses concern about what he sees as the current divide between black student life and the Africana Studies department. Finally, he describes his own path to academia, and how his current position as professor of Ethnic Studies at Cypress College is still influenced by his experience at Bowdoin, particularly his admiration for professors like Dan Levine.
Sewheat Asfaha '16 interviews Ama Gyamerah '17
Date: 2016-01-01
Creator: Ama Gyamerah
Access: Open access
Impacts of eelgrass (Zostera marina) on pore-water sulfide concentrations in intertidal sediments of Casco Bay, Maine
Date: 2016-05-01
Creator: Sabine Y Berzins
Access: Open access
- Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a perennial seagrass that provides many vital ecosystem services including stabilizing sediments, maintaining water clarity, and providing complex habitat in the intertidal and shallow subtidal coastline. Historically, Maine supported dense eelgrass beds in shallow waters surrounding islands and along the coastal mainland. However, in 2012, high population densities of European green crabs (Carcinus maenas), which physically disturb and remove eelgrass as they forage, were correlated with widespread eelgrass declines. Over 55% of the area of eelgrass in Casco Bay was lost, mainly between 2012 and 2014. Eelgrass typically grows in low-oxygen sediments that produce a chemically reducing environment. Sulfate-reducing bacteria in these reduced sediments produce hydrogen sulfide, a toxin that can intrude into eelgrass tissues and impair the plants’ ability to photosynthesize. When eelgrass is not present, sulfide can build up in the pore-water. When eelgrass is present, it can oxygenate the sediments through its roots, thereby preventing the intrusion and buildup of toxic hydrogen sulfide. However, if the substrate is de-vegetated, oxygen levels drop as sedimentary organic matter is decomposed, and the accumulation of sulfides to harmful concentrations in the pore-water may make recolonization of eelgrass difficult or perhaps impossible even in the absence of green crabs. In an effort to monitor characteristics of Casco Bay eelgrass beds and determine spatially where eelgrass may be more likely to recover, four Casco Bay sites with varying degrees of vegetation loss were sampled in 2015 for pore-water sulfide concentration, sediment carbon and nitrogen content, and sediment grain size analysis. Measurements of sulfide concentrations showed correlations with the timing of eelgrass loss, such that vegetated sites had low pore-water sulfide concentrations and sites that had been de-vegetated for longer periods of time had high sulfide concentrations. Carbon and nitrogen content in the sediment was higher at de-vegetated sites, likely due to a higher percentage of finer sediments at those locations. Coarser sediments were more highly vegetated than finer sediments, perhaps displaying a preference of green crabs to forage in finer sediments. Catastrophic loss of eelgrass in Casco Bay has likely led to differences in sulfide levels, carbon and nitrogen content in the sediment, and grain size distribution, depending on degree of vegetation. Eelgrass restoration in Casco Bay will likely be limited by high pore-water sulfide concentrations.
Searle’s Mind: Brains, Subjects, and Systems
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Saul Cuevas-Landeros
Access: Open access
- Throughout this project, I ‘step into the Chinese Room’ presented by philosopher John R. Searle and develop the areas where the Chinese Room Argument succeeds. I have aimed to pick out where Searle has succeeded with the Chinese Room Argument and introduce how it fits in with his school of biological naturalism, as it seems that he already had some conception of it when presenting the Argument. From here, I introduce some of the primary arguments against the Chinese Room Argument because they do not fit with Searle’s overarching theme of biological naturalism. Particularly, Searle’s conception of systems and system features is something he endorses for the biological but immediately labels as silly for the Chinese Room. Following the exposition of systems and system features, I expand on how there is a disconnect between Searle’s use of system features and his view of the Chinese Room Argument. What is so special about Searle’s conception of systems and the systems present in the Chinese Room Argument? Searle should claim that the Chinese Room is simply not the kind of thing that can think. Ultimately, Searle’s philosophy of mind leaves us with either a muddled philosophy or an invalid argument in the Chinese Room, but with much to learn and not forget to consider in the philosophy of mind, such as the important role of subjectivity in our conscious life.
Surfing the Kali Yuga: Tracking the Alt-Right on Twitter
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Jaida Hodge-Adams
Access: Open access
- The alt-right is a hyper-extreme, decentralized network of far-right pundits and their doggish supporters that exists almost entirely online. Consumed by conspiracy and identity, the myths of bigoted ideologies like racism, antisemitism, and transphobia are taken for granted, and their ideology calls for violent ends by violent means. In the physical world, members of the alt-right often keep their rhetoric to themselves; Online, however, they find solace in a vast, international network of websites and forums that together form one giant echo chamber into which they can dump their darkest thoughts. Though any individual member of the alt-right may operate uniquely within the context of their home country, together they form a collective, international voice whose strongest claims often transcend borders and resist state-level analysis. Unspeakable acts of violence like mass shootings, senseless killings, and acts of terrorism are unpredictable but become significantly more likely when the rhetorical atmosphere breeds hostility. By demonizing minority groups and spreading ideologies of hate, the alt-right makes these acts of violence more likely. On massive platforms like Twitter, the alt-right’s rhetoric can seep into mainstream conversations; their framing of concepts like race, gender, sexuality, and national identity are forced into relevance. Their rhetoric is euphemistic, but their message is clear, and their hate poses a real threat to people’s lives. This honors project explores the ideological and geographic features of the alt-right and their international implications, concluding that the alt-right is a globally interconnected group of actors whose conspiracies motivate lone-wolf terrorists worldwide.
Do Voters Reward Incumbents for Service Provision? Electoral Accountability in South African Elections
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Rory Mayne Devlin
Access: Open access
- Democratic theory suggests that voters reward or punish incumbent political parties in elections by evaluating parties’ ability to provide services. But do voters reward incumbent parties for service provision in practice? This project explores the relationship between municipal-level service provision and voting in the South African context. I test whether the local provision of services, such as electricity, piped water, internet, trash collection, and flush toilets, impact the performance of South Africa’s two major political parties, the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in municipal and national elections between 2009 and 2021. I observe this relationship in ANC- and DA-controlled municipalities using municipal-level data on public service provision, election results, and nighttime brightness levels. The municipal-level results show that DA-controlled municipalities with higher levels of service provision in 2016 offered more support for the DA in the 2021 and 2019 elections. However, ANC-controlled municipalities with higher levels of 2016 service provision did not support the ANC at higher rates. Additionally, ANC-controlled municipalities that improved service provision between 2011 and 2016 supported the ANC at higher rates in the 2021 and 2019 elections than they did in previous elections. DA vote share did not increase in DA-controlled municipalities where services improved over time.
The Current Support Theorem in Context
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Ethan Winters
Access: Open access
- This work builds up the theory surrounding a recent result of Erlandsson, Leininger, and Sadanand: the Current Support Theorem. This theorem states precisely when a hyperbolic cone metric on a surface is determined by the support of its Liouville current. To provide background for this theorem, we will cover hyperbolic geometry and hyperbolic surfaces more generally, cone surfaces, covering spaces of surfaces, the notion of an orbifold, and geodesic currents. A corollary to this theorem found in the original paper is discussed which asserts that a surface with more than $32(g-1)$ cone points must be rigid. We extend this result to the case that there are more than $3(g-1)$ cone points. An infinite family of cone surfaces which are not rigid and which have precisely $3(g-1)$ cone points is also provided, hence demonstrating tightness.
"One Never Knew": David Foster Wallace and the Aesthetics of Consumption
Date: 2016-05-01
Creator: Jesse Ortiz
Access: Open access
- Increasingly, David Foster Wallace is becoming a cult figure among literary enthusiasts. His novels, essays, and short stories are all known for their poignant critiques of modern culture. Since his 2008 suicide, Wallace’s name has come to represent a way of thinking that rejects – and perhaps transcends – the hegemonic power of late capitalism. Wallace had a problem with pleasure. His writing often seemed to deflate or deconstruct what many people enjoy. For him, so much was “supposedly fun.” To understand Wallace’s relationship with pleasure, we must see how pleasure incorporates aesthetics and consumption. Wallace takes issue with the pleasure that comes from the aesthetics of cultural commodities. Irony produces pleasure, which turns culture into a desirable commodity. In my first chapter, I argue that Wallace’s essays challenge aesthetic pleasure by deconstructing self-reflexive irony. In his descriptions of consumer culture, Wallace evokes the feeling of disgust to undo the aesthetic pleasure of consumption. In my second chapter, I move to Infinite Jest to show how Wallace engages with irony while using it to exceed aesthetic pleasure. Infinite Jest challenges the hierarchy of aesthetics and suggests that deformity and waste can be beautiful and important. Infinite Jest demonstrates that, by trusting others instead of pursuing aesthetic ideals, people can build communities that are more honest and fulfilling than the pleasure of consumption.