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of Henrys criticism and the view that Austen is politically conservative depends on such a move (85). Only more recently have critics noted the explicitly political dramatic ironies of this passage and thus its subversive (Jacobin) bent. Claudia Johnsons view, that Catherines (ironically correct) collapsing of the distinction between this |
nation and that is "subversive" of Henrys nationalist complacency (40), should be definitive. Several recent critics have fleshed out her account by focusing on the way Henry portrays English citizens as "surrounded" by spies. His description suggests imprisonment as much as it does safety from secret atrocity, and thus by |
implication damns as tyrannical the government that produced such spies. At first this critical history may seem to prove the postmodern contention that Austens irony cannot be fixed, because so many critics have produced so many different interpretations of Henrys ideological narrowness. In fact, however, interpretation of this passage has |
stabilized recently, and has evolved down a single consistent path: from not seeing the dramatic irony at all, to seeing it narrowly, to giving the irony its full political weight. The most recent interpretations rely on historical context available to Austens contemporaries and to careful reading of the passage itself, |
and therefore it might be said that criticism has trained itself finally to be the ironic reader that the novel itself was always working towards. Since critics are not always consistent in applying the lesson, however, it is necessary still to argue for the subversiveness of this passage as an |
example of Austens larger method. Careful reading of the passage demonstrates the subtlety as well as the complete explicability of Austens irony. Henry has until now been the model of an ironic reader, implying as well as inferring double meanings in every bit of dialogue. Here, Austens reader faces the |
test of applying Henrys method to Henry himself as object. Throughout his speech, Henry commits unintentional ironies, the detection of which is necessary both to understanding Austens political message and to becoming the ideal reader the novel is molding. Henrys ironic deconstruction begins with the first sentence of his ringing |
political declamation, in which he claims that he has no words, but then finds many of them (arranged in elegant parallels, no less). This movement of contradiction echoes the very comic technique that Henry himself had used in his burlesque of the Gothic. In his story he draws attention to |
the contradictory illogic of Gothic plots by predicting that after "a very short search, [Catherine] will discover a division in the tapestry so artfully constructed as to defy the minutest inspection" (159). He has no words, but yet finds some; the division in the tapestry cannot be found, yet Catherine |
will find it. Thus from its beginning the speech signals its own kinship with the very language that earlier Henry himself had so effectively criticized. Later, the irony of Henrys direct injunction to consult observation as a guide to judging conduct provides the most positive evidence that he is fallible. |
Since her observation of the Generals manner toward his children has caused Catherine to be suspicious of him, and since her observation accurately predicts his future behavior, Catherine has done exactly what Henry told her to. Her direct observation, and ours, leads us to a conclusion opposite to the one |
Henry endorses, in which Englands society, despite its roads and newspapers, cannot be distinguished from the foreign Gothic settings which Henry wishes to see as fundamentally Other. Henry Tilney, like Catherine, must learn this further lesson, that nationalism is just as unrealistic as romance. Neither of them understands that English |
human nature might contain some of the same impulses as those found in the Alps. The goal of the novel according to Austen is to teach the ability to deal with the people one encounters in everyday life, and thus both Henry and Catherine need a lesson in realistic pessimism.The |
discovery of the Generals mercenary nature provides the dash of cold water they need. Henry is just as disillusioned and humiliated by his fathers behavior at the end of the novel as Catherine was earlier by his reproof of her"Henry, in having such things to relate of his father, was |
almost as pitiable as in their first avowal to himself. He blushed for the narrow-minded counsel which he was obliged to expose" (247). Henry learns that he ought to have taken into account commonplace English behavior founded on greed or misplaced pride before dismissing all villainy as foreign. Surely the |
thought of his own earlier confidence in his supremely English family contributes to Henrys embarrassment. Most critics today acknowledge that Henrys smug nationalism is not meant as the authors position. This new understanding has introduced a new problem. Critics now only rarely under-read the irony of Henrys "Remember that we |
are English" speech; instead the pendulum has swung the other way, and critics over-read the irony of the novel as a whole, abdicating interpretation altogether. Edward Neill claims that "Northanger Abbey . . . is the sort of text whose emotional and political direction is on a knife-edge. It seems |
at once to be preternaturally sure of where its going, yet its reversible ironies at key points momentarily eclipse a sense of intention, of just which reading is against the grain" (14). This kind of reading is consistent with poststructuralist privileging of ironyit recalls Paul de Mans description of the |
sort of infinite regress that all true irony produces, as one endlessly perceives the irony of ones just previous perception of irony ("The Rhetoric of Temporality" 215, 220). De Mans theory is especially tempting for Austen critics, since he goes on to assert that the transition from an eighteenth-century novel |
based on irony to nineteenth-century realism is a "regression" (222). In this light an infinitely ironic Austen is the last bastion of the Enlightenment, rather than the inventor of Litvaks "dreary cultural project" (269) of realism. Perhaps critical emphasis on the politically unfixed quality of Austens irony is meant as |
a service to the author, but if so, it is a chimerical defense. There is never more than one layer of irony at any moment in Northanger Abbey. During the scene that Neill finds most "reversible," Henrys mocking translation between Eleanor and Catherine over the shocking new thing coming out |
in London (Volume I, Chapter Fourteen), Henry is merely bantering. He always means just the opposite of what he says, but intends to draw attention to his actual meaning by expressing it in opposing language. Perhaps this conversational technique (still common today) would be more apparent if the novel were |
read aloud. Nevertheless, Eleanors desire to have Henry explain himself to Catherine indicates that she understands his joking and that it is commonplace, not meant to be difficult to understand for anyone more experienced than Catherine. The irony of commentary provided by the narrator on political questions is of just |
the same kind. Henrys nationalist speech is a different kind of irony (dramatic), but it is still unitary in purpose. He merely descends from being an ironist to being the object of the novels irony. But there is no moment in the novel that requires more than one level of |
ironic reversal. The consistency with which one is required to supply ironic perception (on almost every page) is the primary means by which Northanger Abbey carries out its educational function. When one does act as the ideal reader of the novel, one not only is able to understand its overt |
political message (tyranny is as common in England as in Gothic novels), but also to cope with it in the only way possibleby making mock of it. This might be cold comfort, but it is certainly consistent. Austen does not claim to be able to change peoples principles or their |
material conditions, just to help them to a truer knowledge of human nature and thus a more personally palatable existence. One could take this compensatory irony too far (as Mr. Bennet will later illustrate), but as it is the mode of all her novels, surely Austen can be reasonably said |
Programme Leader: Graham Moore National wheat pre-breeding research Programme Leader: Graham Moore A research project funded by BBSRC and coordinated by the John Innes Centre aims to bridge the gap between publicly-funded plant science and private breeding companies. The research |
is in its second year, and from 2014 will become an Institute Strategic Programme. The world is facing a potential crisis in terms of food security due to population expansion, dietary changes, declining stocks of fossil fuels, and a failure |
of conventional wheat breeding methods to sustain yield gains. Over the next 50 years, more wheat needs to grown than has been produced in the 10,000 years since agriculture began. In the UK 18 million hectares, or around three-quarters of |
UK land, is used for agriculture. But up to six times that is actually needed to supply all the resources we require and to absorb all the waste we generate. We make up the shortfall by paying for it using |
wealth created from our service sector. This is not sustainable. In the US, advances in biotechnology will help double maize yields by 2030. The aim is to achieve this on 30 per cent less land, using less water and less |
energy. The UK needs a similar vision to improve major crops such as wheat, ensuring the UK makes a major contribution to global food security. We aim to address that need by collaborating with wheat researchers at other institutes and |
universities on a collaborative pre-breeding programme. The wheat story so far A chance hybridization 10,000 years ago enabled humans to start harvesting and domesticating wheat, eventually leading to the elite lines of modern bread wheat currently in use. Today it |
is the UK’s largest crop. Worldwide, more land is used to grow wheat than any other crop. It has overtaken rice to become the second most produced cereal after maize. Domestication increased yields, but recently those increases have slowed. This |
is partly because domestication has eroded wheat diversity. The possibilities for improvement are reaching their limit. Experimental crosses will allow new and useful genetic variation to be identified from wheat parents. Some varieties may show poor agronomic performance but contain |
lost genes and traits valued for improving performance and for adapting crops to UK and global agriculture. We aim to rejuvenate wheat diversity, prioritising valuable traits from wild wheat, a worldwide collection of locally-adapted primitive varieties (or ‘landraces’), ‘synthetic’ bread |
wheat, and other grasses. We will incorporate this diversity into elite UK varieties; ensuring breeders can quickly apply it to make improvements in the field. Sources of diversity Three sources of diversity will be used. Untapped genetic variation in existing |
UK and worldwide land races will be identified, most importantly from the AE Watkins landrace collection in the BBSRC small grain cereals collection held at JIC. Scientists will also recreate the original cross that produced the first bread wheat to |
capture diversity from modern wheat’s ancestors. The resulting varieties are known as synthetic wheat. Wild and cultivated relatives will provide further diversity. Tomorrow’s wheat - widening the gene pool In this multi-site research programme, publicly-funded scientists will collaborate on producing |
new lines of bread wheat with improved resistance to diseases and insects, greater tolerance to drought, salt and heat, and enhanced yield. Breeders will be able to take them on for further selection to produce elite varieties for release. Breeders |
have already identified key agronomic traits of most interest to them, and academics will also pursue target traits, for example linked to environmental benefits. The research will broaden the gene pool, or ‘germplasm’, for wheat. All the information, such as |
the genetic markers required for precision breeding, will be stored in a central database. The seed will be stored at JIC’s Germplasm Resource Unit. All the information and seed will be free of patents and made freely available to breeders |
and researchers worldwide. The genes that control important traits will be identified and then mapped on the wheat genome, making it easier for breeders to select them in marker assisted breeding. The research will ensure that the greatest possible diversity |
is used. Some of the first traits explored will be resistance to aphids, bulb fly and Take-All. To improve yield, traits that improve biomass will be identified. These traits include the efficiency with which a plant photosynthesises, the way a |
leaf ages, and how that effects the growth of the stem and the grain, and leaf architecture. Varieties with enhanced nitrogen and phosphate use will be developed to reduce the amount of fertiliser needed on crops. Capturing and exploiting diversity |
The parental material used in the initial pre-breeding crosses will be genotyped, revealing the genetic differences between varieties. This will help ensure that maximum diversity is exploited. Using the most advanced sequencing techniques we will generate very high density maps |
of markers linked to target genes. So-called second and third generation sequencing will enable us to provide breeding companies with markers for “precision” breeding, and academia with markers for fine dissection of key traits. Throughout the three years of the |
current project, and looking ahead to the formal research programme, all partners will work together to collect genotyping and phenotypic data in a database. This database will show the links between genes and traits. Training the next generation Wheat is |
a particularly complex cereal to study. Some varieties have two sets of chromosomes (diploid), some have four (tetraploid) and others six (hexaploid). The wheat genome is 30 times larger than that of rice and five times larger than the human |
genome. The UK currently has the skill base to deliver the challenging research needed, but many wheat researchers are due to retire in the next five to ten years. The resources created by the pre-breeding programme will help young researchers |
initiate their own wheat research projects. The pooling of expertise will make it easier to train the next generation of scientists in skills needed for population development, phenotyping and genotyping. |
Vernacular Private Houses While MINKA is a common name for the old farmhouses and town houses in Japan since early times, people probably hold an image of it to be a "hometown" when they hear this word. "Jubun MINKA" refers |
to those buildings that are designated among private houses as important cultural assets by the national government. Jubun MINKA depicts the history of life in regions nurtured for generations as living spaces over a long period of time. As a |
result, they display abundant characteristics and values, such as friendliness and unique individual expression different from that found in temples and shrines. Jubun MINKA have a great attraction as structures closely related to people's lives, but they have traditionally been |
introduced only through the research and academic publications of specialists. But now the time has come for those owners living in such vernacular private houses to widely distribute its information to the people interested in Jubun MINKA. We have created |
this homepage in hopes that more people will take an interest to explore the friendly existence of precious Japanese heritage, Vernacular Private Houses (Jubun MINKA). Our goal is to have more people deepen their understanding of such valuable culture and |
see "Jubun MINKA" in a different light that is beyond what you had ever imagined. JAPAN HISTORIC HOUSE OWNERS' SOCIETY Jubun = Important Cultural Assets appointed by the Agency for Cultural |
November 01, 2010 Two movies derived from images taken by the two cameras aboard NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft show comet Hartley 2 is, as expected, quite active, and it provides information on the nucleus's rotation. The spacecraft has been imaging |
Hartley 2 almost daily since Sept. 5, in preparation for its scheduled Nov. 4 flyby of the comet. "The comet brings us new surprises every day," said Michael A'Hearn, EPOXI principal investigator from the University of Maryland, College Park. "The |
data we have received to this point have been tremendous. It is forcing us to rethink what we know about cometary science, and we are still days away from encounter." On Oct. 26, the spacecraft's two cameras, a High-Resolution Imager |
(HRI), and a Medium-Resolution-Imager (MRI), caught two jets firing off the comet's surface over a 16-hour period. The spacecraft captured these images from a distance of about 8 million kilometers (5 million miles) away. The data lead mission scientists to |
believe that both jets originate from similar latitudes on the comet's nucleus. "These movies are excellent complements of one and other and really provide some excellent detail of how a comet's jets operate," said A'Hearn. "Observing these jets from EPOXI |
provides an entirely different viewpoint from what is available for Earth-based observers and will ultimately allow a proper three-dimensional reconstruction of the environment surrounding the nucleus." The name EPOXI is a combination of the names for the two extended mission |
components: the extrasolar planet observations, called Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI). The spacecraft will continue to be referred to as "Deep Impact." The Deep Impact |
mission successfully deployed a projectile into the path of comet Tempel 1 in 2005. The spacecraft is being "recycled" for the comet Hartley 2 flyby. JPL manages the EPOXI mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Maryland, |
College Park, is home to the mission's principal investigator, Michael A'Hearn. Drake Deming of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., is the science lead for the mission's extrasolar planet observations. The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace |
In the dark days of 1940, with France defeated and her own forces driven from the continent, it seemed that Britain stood alone before the onslaught of Nazi Germany. Yet there was one country that stood firmly by Britain’s side and contributed an ever increasing number of soldiers, pilots, and |
sailors to the defence of what many still regarded as the Mother Country. Canada had followed Britain’s lead in declaring war on Germany in September 1939 and within weeks, was sending troops overseas. Britons and Canadians affirmed the ties of their shared history and traditions, and forged new bonds of |
comradeship, friendship, and even marriage as they met and mixed over six long years of war. The Juno Beach Centre is proud to present a temporary exhibit illustrating the many ways in which Britons and Canadians came to know each other and the record of effort and sacrifice common to |
both countries as they fought to preserve the heritage of liberty and democracy. “Allies: Canadians and British During the Second World War” highlights various aspects of the Anglo-Canadian experience. Dioramas illustrate how Canadians and Britons fought side-by-side during major events of the Second World War: at sea during the Battle |
of the Atlantic, in the skies during the Battle of Britain, on D-Day and throughout the Battle of Normandy. Upon entering the exhibit, visitors receive a passport/ID cardoutlining the story and fortunes of an individual man or woman, military or civilian, Canadian or British. At its heart, the exhibit tells |
a very human story, of men and women from two countries, allies yet strangers, familiar yet foreign, brought together by exceptional circumstances and united in a great cause. Educational Activity for school groups: History on Wheels (from 11 years old) |
CLAS/RELG106Introduction to New TestamentThis course explores the writings of the New Testament, their relationship to the history and culture in which they were produced, and their relevance to more recent issues in modern religious discourse. We will cover a range of topics, including the historical perspective on who Jesus was, the impact of Paul on Christianity, the formation of the |
canon, political religion in the Roman empire, ethics, and gender. We will apply several modern approaches as well as survey at various points the "afterlife" of the Christian scriptural traditions in Christianity. No prior knowledge of or experience with the subject is assumed or required. CLAS/PHIL205Ancient PhilosophyA study of ancient views on nature, knowledge, soul, the self, morality, and the |
good life. This is a history of philosophy course rather than a history course; we will be studying the ideas, arguments, and theories put forth by ancient philosophers, rather than biographical, cultural, anthropological, or historical issues about them or their time period. We will largely be trying to understand what these thinkers were trying to say, and why they thought |
what they did. In addition, we will be discussing the merits of the various positions and reasons offered. Readings will focus on selections from Plato and Aristotle, but will also include readings from the pre-Socratic and Hellenistic philosophers, all major sources of the Western philosophical tradition. Recommended for classics students. . (This is a designated Greek literature or culture course |
in Classics.) CLAS/ARTX208Introduction to Greek Art and ArchaeologyThis introduction to the multidisciplinary field of Greek archaeology examines the art and architecture of the Greek world from a contextual perspective. The course traces Greek material culture from Bronze Age origins through Hellenistic transformations. (This is a designated Greek literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS/ARTX209Introduction to Roman Art and ArchaeologyThis introduction |
to the multidisciplinary field of Roman archaeology examines the art and architecture of the Roman world from a contextual perspective. The course traces Roman material culture from Iron Age and Etruscan origins through Early Christian transformations. (This is a designated Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS210Classical MythologyA literary and art-historical survey of the major myths from ancient Greece |
and Rome; examination of how myths were viewed and used in antiquity and how they have been used in subsequent literature and culture; introduction to the most important schools of myth-interpretation. (This is a designated Greek and Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS220Ancient Comedy and SatireSurvey of literary and dramatic works in English translation that reveal the nature |
and types of humor among the ancient Greeks and Romans. Readings include plays by Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, and Terence; satires by Horace, Juvenal, and Lucian; and Petronius' Satyricon. (This is a designated Greek and Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS/HIST224Archaeology of Death in the Greco-Roman WorldThis course examines the public and private funerary art, architecture, epigraphy and literature |
of the Greek and Roman world in their ancient social and religious contexts. It also considers the influence of these ancient practices on modern burial customs. This course presents the new technological and forensic advances in burial archaeology, such as DNA testing and non-invasive scanning techniques, that promise to extract more information than ever before from ancient remains. (This is |
a designated Greek and Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS/HIST225Greek CivilizationFrom Homer to Alexander the Great with emphasis on arts and letters. CLAS/HIST227The Roman Army and the Frontiers of EmpireThis course considers the Roman army from the perspectives of both military and social history. After a chronological survey of the development of the Roman army, case studies of |
the army in action in specific frontier provinces will be considered. From Hadrian's Wall in Britain to the desert wastes of Egypt, ancient texts and archaeological evidence illuminate the army-driven process of "Romanization," through which former barbarian enemies became assimilated Roman citizens. (This is a designated Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS/HIST229Multiculturalism in Greco-Roman EgyptThis course examines the |
dynamic cultural pluralism that thrived for almost a millennium after Egypt, with its deeply-rooted pharaonic heritage, was integrated into the Classical world, first as a Hellenistic Kingdom under the Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty and then as an imperial province in the Roman Empire. The monuments of Graeco-Roman Egypt are spread across a varied cultural landscape, from the cosmopolitan Mediterranean metropolis of |
Alexandria, through the agricultural towns of the Fayum oasis, to the Nile Valley cities of Middle and Upper Egypt, and the imperial mines and Red Sea ports of the Eastern Desert. Egyptians, Nubians, Jews, Greeks, and Romans coexisted in Graeco-Roman Egypt with cooperation and conflict to produce art and architecture as well as to practice cults and customs in which |
both pharaonic survivals and Classical responses can be traced. (This is a designated Greek and Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS/HIST230Women in Classical AntiquityA literary, historical, and cultural survey of social structures and private life in ancient Greece and Rome. Issues covered include constructions of sexuality, cross-cultural standards of the beautiful, varieties of courtship and marriage, and contentions |
between pornography and erotica. Students will examine sources from medical, philosophic, lyric, tragic, comic, and rhetorical writers as well as representative works from vase painting, the plastic arts, graffiti, etc. (This is a designated Greek and Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS240Homer and Greek TragedyReadings in translation from Homer's Iliad and selected tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; |
study includes the history and origins of tragedy, the influence of the Homeric heroic tradition, Greek dramaturgy, and the place of dramatic festivals in Greek life and thought. (This is a designated Greek literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS/RELG255Religion From Alexander to ConstantineThis course examines various forms of ancient religion and worship in the classical world. Topics included are |
concepts of divinity, varieties of religious space and practices, distinctions between civic and private worship, religious festivals and rituals, attitudes towards death and afterlife, importations of Near-Eastern and African religions, and political and philosophical appropriations of religion. Specifically, the course will focus on classical Greek and Roman religion, new religious movements, Judaism, and Christianity within classical culture. Students will become |
acquainted with a variety of texts, archaeological sites, and religious art and artifacts. (This is a designated Greek and Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) CLAS/POLS257Justice and Political Community in AntiquityThis course examines political thought from the Greek period through the Italian Renaissance. We will pay particular attention to classical conceptions of human nature, justice, the ideal political order, |
and the obligations of citizens to their political communities. We will also form an appreciation for the Greek and Roman foundations of subsequent political systems. Thinkers covered include Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, St. Augustine, and Machiavelli. CLAS/RELG261Judaism in AntiquityThis course examines the history and literature of Judaism from the Second Temple Period to the beginnings of Rabbinical Judaism (400 BCE - |
400 CE). This course explores the diversity of ancient Judaism and explores themes of religious and cultural identity. We shall consider the political and religious implications for Jews living under the Persian, Greek, Roman, and Christian empires, while briefly ruling themselves in the Hasmonean period. We will read a series of primary sources in translation from ancient Jews and non-Jews, |
as well as modern scholarly treatments of these works. CLAS270Vergil and the Age of AugustusExamination in English translation of the major literary products that characterize Rome's Augustan Age; some consideration of social, political, religious, and art historical trends of the era; special attention given to Vergil and the Aeneid. (This is a designated Roman literature or culture course in Classics.) |
CLAS295Pirates, Prostitutes, and Politicians: Crime, Crimincals & Criminological Theory in Ancient Greece & RomeWhy do people commit crimes? Is it possible to detect criminal tendencies in an individual, and if so, how? How do theories about crime and criminals play a role in the detection and punishment of criminals, especially through the legal system? Greek and Roman responses to these |
questions provide a deeper understanding of ancient law and society, and provide the historical background for the modern science of criminology. The course will focus especially on the history of physiognomics, the pseudo-science of detecting inherent criminality by examining the body. CLAS390Junior SeminarAn examination of current trends in the field of Classics, through the exploration of cross-cultural exchange in the |
ancient Mediterranean. Students will be introduced to various subspecialities within the field, but emphasis will be on writing, research skills and the development of the students' own research interests. This course will also prepare students for the writing of the SIP and for the essay portion of the comprehensive exam.Prerequisite: Junior standing and declared major in Classics, Greek, Latin, or |
Classical Civilization, or permission of the instructor. CLAS593Senior Individualized ProjectEach program or department sets its own requirements for Senior Individualized Projects done in that department, including the range of acceptable projects, the required background of students doing projects, the format of the SIP, and the expected scope and depth of projects. See the Kalamazoo Curriculum -> Curriculum Details and Policies |
Science and Society Module Development Project Advisors: Martin Stute, Art Lerner-Lam PPT slides of class presentation In many ways this public health crisis can be viewed as a crisis of |
lack of information. The following statement by World Bank advisor Guy Alaerts, commenting on that agency's involvement in mitigation efforts beginning in 1997, points to the many obstacles to knowledgably |
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