The Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili Centre, Toronto Assignment

The Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili Centre, Toronto - Assignment Example at Toronto is one of the many symbolic centers of the Ismaili community which act as a space of socio-cultural meeting, intellectual involvement, and spiritual reflection. They aim to connect the community, authorities, and the civil society. As such the Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili center at Toronto is a place of congregation, described as a â€Å"jamatkhana†, a place of communal setting (The Ismaili, n.pag.). The architecture of the museum and the Ismaili center along with the design of the landscape confirms the Islamic heritage which the site promotes. Hence the Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili Center is a place of social interaction that is situated in the context of the Ismaili culture, more specifically the Islamic identity. The Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Center at Toronto represents a uniquely designed landmark which has a surrounding that is influenced by Islamic as well as regional cultures. The museum and the center therefore serve the purpose of the Islamic community in the broader context of the Canadian society. The architecture is deeply drawn from Islamic influences with gardens and parks surrounding the location arousing sentiments of friendship, peacefulness, and spirituality. There is a congregational hall in the Ismaili center which is a space for gathering of the community so as to promote mutual understanding and harmony. The design is greatly inspired by Islamic art and architecture with the park and garden being the most notable feature of Islamic art. A garden reflects a place of greenery and as such, symbolically represents a place of peace or reflection. The Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili center has a huge park located around it, which engenders a similar feeling of peace and spiritual ity. The park present near the museum is quite scenic and is a vital aesthetical component of the whole building. The museum and the center mean to represent peace and harmony and the surrounding park helps to consolidate the sense of peacefulness. In terms

The perception of Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Healthcare System Essay Example for Free

The perception of Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Healthcare System Essay Introduction Public health in America has benefited from various innovations and advanced medical technology. However, these developments do not serve all Americans. Even in modern times disparities exist between whites and minorities in terms of health care. For instance the rate due to heart disease and stokes were higher for African Americans than for whites; 30% and 41% respectively, in 2002. The infant mortality rate for African Americans was higher compared to that of whites, in spite the fact that the national infant mortality rate had decreased. In 2004, African Americans had the highest diagnosis rate for HIV; 50% (Center for health care strategies). Ensuring equity in health care is necessary in order to prevent premature death, control disease, prevent unnecessary illness or disability and promote the quality of life for all citizens. An intervention by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention lead to the formation of Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH). The program’s mandate is to identify, minimize and eventually eliminate racial and ethnic inequality in the health care sector. Minority groups are the main victims of health care inequity. As a result the REACH program targets; African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Latinos, Alaska natives and Pacific Islanders. These communities need to be involved in the REACH program since, they are after all the beneficiaries. Individuals, community leaders and opinion leaders need to be consulted and empowered. REACH has developed strategies that improve health care in various communities, work sites, schools, after school settings and in health care facilities. Application of community development principles of good practice to research on racial and health care disparities. For a society to be successful then development of individual communities and organizations needs to be considered. Community development focuses on the improvement of the quality of life for an entire community. A community can be defined as a team of people who are unified due to location, common interests or ownership. For this kind of development to occur then the principles of good practice ought to be enforced. Some of the principles of good practice include; encouraging participation, problem identification and designing of solutions by community members and community leaders. Leaders in the community are also empowered and educated so that they can understand the problems that exist in their community and abstinence from practices that affect the community negatively. In other words the principles of good practice include; inclusion of community members, capacity building through management of information and resources, partnerships with all stakeholders, equity , accessibility and responsiveness in terms of action towards various initiatives (Maslow, 2003,p.19). The community should be involved in the research on racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The community will provide valuable information on the disparities that exist, intervention programs and the progress made in addressing the issue. Researchers need to consider vital elements in the community; trust, cultural heritage, history, expertise, community leaders, community initiatives and resources. Community based research relies highly on participation and trust. Trust is fundamental for the research on racial and ethnic inequality in health care. The researcher needs to understand the community’s history and how it relates to their current health care situation. For example the slavery and racial discrimination history of African Americans can provide insight on why the disparity in health care exists. The researcher needs to appreciate information from participates. However, this does not imply that all information should be accepted as truth without further investigation. The views of the community members should be listened to carefully, evaluated and investigated. Researchers should view the community as a partner in the research and interact with members. The researcher needs to develop a partnership with the members of the community. Together the parties define the health care disparities and needs. They also evaluate the effectiveness of programs initiated so as to reduce the health care inequality and provide recommendations on how to improve those programs. In this partnership between the researcher and the community members the thoughts and opinions of the community members need to be reflected in the publications. It is a common practice for publishers to decide what to print. Most of the times the community participates are not co-authors of the publications; they are simply acknowledged for their cooperation in the authors’ notes. As a result some of the issues that are very vital to the community may be left out. Members of a community provide superior information on their community’s views and their culture. Thus inclusion of community members as co-authors of publications will benefit both the researcher and the community. Moreover, this effort is a form of empowerment for the community since their views and opinions will be better represented thus creating a comprehensive picture. Ethical practices should be used in data collection, ownership and publication (Blythe, 2007, p.68). In order to understand the role that racial inequality has on premature deaths, infant mortality rate, disability and the spread of disease community based research is crucial. Community partners provide information on the nature of health care they receive in terms of health education, treatment, responsiveness in health care centers and the facilities that are available in their localities. Research ensures that health care delivery coincides with the needs of the community. The insight provided by community participation research is useful to the government and other stakeholders who are responsible for designing and implementing health care delivery programs. Community participants in a research usually represent the views of the community in relation to health care. Thus their views should be considered and reflected in the research. Research helps in addressing the challenges that face the health care system. Hence it provides solutions communities and policy makers which will ultimately improve the nature and quality of health care available to all citizens. For racial and ethnic disparities to be eliminated then all stakeholders need to develop strategies that will address issue. Various states and Medicaid managed organizations have developed a community based strategy to address racial disparities in health care. The strategy emphasis on community participatory research on health care racial and ethnic inequality. The community members, community based organizations are the main source of information. The health care providers and government then analyze the information and set policies on health that ensures equality in access and treatment to all American citizens. Compared to traditional research methods community based participatory research provides pertinent findings and is less time consuming. Health care providers are increasingly using this approach; the main focus is using community based approach to interact with minorities. For instance the ‘EXCEED’ project uses partnership between researchers, community member, community health care centers and the community organizations. EXCEED uses the community participatory research due to acknowledgement that it leads to comprehensive findings on the social, cultural and economic aspects that contribute to the racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The EXCEED program â€Å"Excellence Centers To Eliminate Ethnic/Racial Disparities† is an in initiative by the Agency of Health care Research and Quality (AHRQ). Its mandate is to investigate and understand racial and ethnic disparities in health care as well as designing and implementing strategies on eradication of those disparities (Bayne, 1998, p.116). Conclusion Inequality in health care provision is evident in terms of health care access, prevalence of disease, health care setting and the quality of care. America’s minorities’ usually higher rates of disease, higher infant death rate and poorer health care compared to white Americans. Disparities in health care affect the individual, communities and the economy. Poor health care contributes to the cost of health care through complications due to poor care, avoidable hospital admission and preventable emergency cases. Community based participatory research on racial and ethnic disparities in health care provides data that reflects the extent of the situation. Information from the research is used by health care providers to design strategies provision of quality health care services to all citizens. Community based participatory research is a partnership between the community and the researcher. There is equity in power, decision making, credit and knowledge. The community and the researchers collaborate in all segments of the research; problem identification, planning for the research, actual research, data collection, analyzing of data and recommending a course of action. Data collected through community based participatory research on racial and ethnic disparities in health care is usually analyzed by the government and other health care stakeholders. The revelations made by the data are useful when goals and policies are been designed so as to eliminate the racial and ethnical disparities in health care. Health care is fundamental in every society. Therefore health care providers are advised to ensure equity in quality, access and care in the health sector for all Americans regardless of their race or ethnicity (Allan, 1998, p. 112). Reference Allan, B. P. (1998). Health care financing.   New York: Hill crest. Bayne, J. N. (1998). Strategic plans. New York: Hill crest. Blythe, R. J. (2007). Disease Prevention. Manchester University Press. Maslow, R. P. (2003). Health Management. New York: Macmillian. Porter, P. (2004). Healthy and Beautiful. New York: The free Press. The effects of community factors on Health. Retrieved August 18 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.policylink.org/pdfs/. Reducing health disparities through focus on communities. Retrieved August 17 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.policylink.org/pdfs/HealthDisparities.pdf

Stradivarius: Unsurpassed Artisan or Just Lucky? :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Stradivarius: Unsurpassed Artisan or Just Lucky? There are about seven hundred Stradivarius violins still intact from the 17th century, and they are among the most sought-after instruments in the world (3). Most, if not all, of the greatest violinists of modern times believe that there is something in the Cremonese violins that provides superior tonal quality to all other violins. Skilled violinists can even distinguish between different qualities in the sound produced by individual Stradivarius violins. The challenge for scientists is to characterize such differences by physical measurements. In practice, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between a Stradivarius instrument and a modern copy on the basis of measured responses because the ear is a supreme detection device and the brain is a far more sophisticated analyzer of complex sounds than any system yet developed to assess musical quality. There have been many theories as to why Stradivarius violins produce such legendary brilliance and resonance, none providing a conclu sive answer. To understand the factors that affect the quality of sound produced by violins, the functioning of the violin must be understood. First of all, sound is produced by drawing a bow across one or more of the four stretched strings, but the strings themselves produce almost no sound. The energy from the vibrating string is transferred to the sound box, which is the main body of the violin. The bridge, which supports the strings, acts as a mechanical transformer; it converts the transverse forces of the strings into the vibrational modes of the sound box (4). The bridge itself also has resonant modes, playing a role in the overall tone. The front plate of the violin is expertly carved with f-holes which boost the sound output at low frequencies, through the Helmholtz air resonance. The Helmholtz air resonance describes the action of the air bouncing backwards and forwards through the f-holes (1). Then, front and back plates are skillfully carved to get the right degree of arching and vari ation in thickness. Even the tiniest changes in the thickness of the plates and the smallest variations in the properties of the wood will significantly affect the specific resonance in the frequency range (1). There are many theories as to the "secret" of Stradivarius violins. Of course what was obviously first explored was the exact size of the violins and ratio of the parts of the violin to each other. It was proposed

Literary Genre Essay

Literature (from Latin litteraetantri (plural); letter) is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources (although, under circumstances unpublished sources can be exempt). Literally translated, the word literature means â€Å"acquaintance with letters† (as in the â€Å"arts and letters†). The two major classification of literature are poetry and prose. â€Å"Literature† is sometimes differentiated from popular and ephemeral classes of writing. Terms such as â€Å"literary fiction† and â€Å"literary merit† are used to distinguish individual works as art-literature rather than vernacular writing, and some critics exclude works from being â€Å"literary†, for example, on grounds of weak or faulty style, use of slang, poor characterization and shallow or contrived construction. Others exclude all genres such as romance, crime and mystery, science fiction, horror and fantasy. Pop lyrics, which are not technically a written medium at all, have also been drawn into this controversy. POETRY A poem is a composition written in verse (although verse has been equally used for epic and dramatic fiction). Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise word choice, and metaphor; they may take the form of measures consisting of patterns of stresses (metric feet) or of patterns of different-length syllables (as in classical prosody); and they may or may not utilize rhyme. Relaxation Through Poetry is a tool used to help someone relax in times of stress. One cannot readily characterize poetry precisely. Typically though, poetry as a form of literature makes some significant use of the formal properties of the words it uses – the properties of the written or spoken form of the words, independent of their meaning. Meter depends on syllables and on rhythms of speech; rhyme and alliteration depend on the sounds of words. Arguably, poetry pre-dates other forms of literature. Early examples include the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (dated from around 2700 B. C. ), parts of the Bible, the surviving works of Homer (the Iliad and the Odyssey), and the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. In cultures based primarily on oral traditions the formal characteristics of poetry often have a mnemonic function, and important texts: legal, genealogical or moral, for example, may appear first in verse form. Some poetry uses specific forms. Examples include the haiku, the limerick, and the sonnet. A traditional haiku written in Japanese relate to nature, contain seventeen onji (syllables), distributed over three lines in groups of five, seven, and five, and should also have a kigo, a specific word indicating a season. A limerick has five lines, with a rhyme scheme of AABBA, and line lengths of 3,3,2,2,3 stressed syllables. It traditionally has a less reverent attitude towards nature. Poetry not adhering to a formal poetic structure is called â€Å"free verse† Language and tradition dictate some poetic norms: Persian poetry always rhymes, Greek poetry rarely rhymes, Italian or French poetry often does, English and German poetry can go either way. Perhaps the most paradigmatic style of English poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by Shakespeare and Milton, consists of unrhymed iambic pentameters. Some languages prefer longer lines; some shorter ones. Some of these conventions result from the ease of fitting a specific language’s vocabulary and grammar into certain structures, rather than into others; for example, some languages contain more rhyming words than others, or typically have longer words. Other structural conventions come about as the result of historical accidents, where many speakers of a language associate good poetry with a verse form preferred by a particular skilled or popular poet. Works for theatre (see below) traditionally took verse form. This has now become rare outside opera and musicals, although many would argue that the language of drama remains intrinsically poetic. In recent years, digital poetry has arisen that takes advantage of the artistic, publishing, and synthetic qualities of digital media. An essay consists of a discussion of a topic from an author’s personal point of view, exemplified by works by Michel de Montaigne or by Charles Lamb. ‘Essay’ in English derives from ‘attempt. ‘ Thus, one can find open-ended, provocative and/or inconclusive essays. The term â€Å"essays† first applied to the self-reflective musings of Michel de Montaigne–even today he has a reputation as the father of this literary form. Genres related to the essay may include: †¢the memoir, telling the story of an author’s life from the author’s personal point of view †¢the epistle: usually a formal, didactic, or elegant letter. †¢works by Lady Murasaki[citation needed], the Arabic Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by Ibn Tufail, the Arabic Theologus Autodidactus by Ibn al-Nafis, and the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong[citation needed]. Early novels in Europe did not count as significant litera perhaps because â€Å"mere† prose writing seemed easy and unimportant. It has become clear, however, that prose writing can provide aesthetic pleasure without adhering to poetic forms. Additionally, the freedom authors gain in not having to concern themselves with verse structure translates often into a more complex plot or into one richer in precise detail than one typically finds even in narrative poetry. This freedom also allows an author to experiment with many different literary and presentation styles—including poetry—in the scope of a single novel. Other prose literature Philosophical, historical, journalistic, legal and scientific writings are traditionally ranked as literature. They offer some of the oldest prose writings in existence; novels and prose stories earned the names â€Å"fiction† to distinguish them from factual writing or nonfiction, which writers historically have crafted in prose. Natural science As advances and specialization have made new scientific research inaccessible to most audiences, the â€Å"literary† nature of science writing has become less pronounced over the last two centuries. Now, science appears mostly in journals. Scientific works of Aristotle, Copernicus, and Newton still possess great value, but since the science in them has largely become outdated, they no longer serve for scientific instruction. Yet, they remain too technical to sit well in most programmes of literary study. Outside of â€Å"history of science† programmes, students rarely read such works. Philosophy Philosophy, too, has become an increasingly academic discipline. More of its practitioners lament this situation than occurs with the sciences; nonetheless most new philosophical work appears in academic journals. Major philosophers through history—Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche—have become as canonical as any writers. Some recent philosophy works are argued to merit the title â€Å"literature†, such as some of the works by Simon Blackburn; but much of it does not, and some areas, such as logic, have become extremely technical to a degree similar to that of mathematics. History A great deal of historical writing ranks as literature, particularly the genre known as creative nonfiction. So can a great deal of journalism, such as literary journalism. However these areas have become extremely large, and often have a primarily utilitarian purpose: to record data or convey immediate information. As a result the writing in these fields often lacks a literary quality, although it often and in its better moments has that quality. Major â€Å"literary† historians include Herodotus, Thucydides and Procopius, all of whom count as canonical literary figures. Law Law offers a less clear case. Some writings of Plato and Aristotle, or even the early parts of the Bible, might count as legal literature. The law tables of Hammurabi of Babylon might count. Roman civil law as codified in the Corpus Juris Civilis during the reign of Justinian I of the Byzantine Empire has a reputation as significant literature. The founding documents of many countries, including Constitutions and Law Codes, can count as literature; however, most legal writings rarely exhibit much literary merit, as they tend to be rather garrulous. Drama A play or drama offers another classical literary form that has continued to evolve over the years. It generally comprises chiefly dialogue between characters, and usually aims at dramatic / theatrical performance (see theatre) rather than at reading. During the 18th and 19th centuries, opera developed as a combination of poetry, drama, and music. Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently. Shakespeare could be considered drama. Romeo and Juliet, for example, is a classic romantic drama generally accepted as literature. Greek drama exemplifies the earliest form of drama of which we have substantial knowledge. Tragedy, as a dramatic genre, developed as a performance associated with religious and civic festivals, typically enacting or developing upon well-known historical or mythological themes. Tragedies generally presented very serious themes. With the advent of newer technologies, scripts written for non-stage media have been added to this form. War of the Worlds (radio) in 1938 saw the advent of literature written for radio broadcast, and many works of Drama have been adapted for film or television. Conversely, television, film, and radio literature have been adapted to printed or electronic media. Oral literature The term oral literature refers not to written, but to oral traditions, which includes different types of epic, poetry and drama, folktales, ballads. However the use of this oxymoron is controversial and not generally accepted by the scientific community. Some prefer to avoid the etymological question using â€Å"oral narrative tradition†, â€Å"oral sacred tradition†, â€Å"oral poetry† or directly using epics or poetry (terms that no necessarily imply writing), others prefer to create neologisms as orature.

Dropout of school Essay

The Huffington Post recently ran an article entitled, â€Å"America’s School Dropout Epidemic By The Numbers† about America’s dropout problem. I would like to add my opinions about why children drop out of school. I am a professional educator who served as a classroom teacher, school counselor and school administrator in the New York City school system for over 33 years. I believe that there are five major reasons why children leave school: 1. The students themselves They make wrong decisions. They get involved with gangs, drugs/alcohol, get pregnant and commit crimes. Many have a poor school attitude and are frequently bored by school. They are disconnected to their families, school and life. They do not see the reasons they need to go to school. They are not involved in school activities and lack self-esteem. Some have been promoted lacking skills needed for promotion. Some have undergone major illnesses and have missed too many days of school and have been informed that they will be held back. Because of many of the conditions listed above, they have been suspended and have fallen behind in their work and see little purpose of returning to school. 2. The family they come from There is often a clash between the family values and those of the school. Frequently, their parents have dropped out of school themselves. The students come from families from low socio-economic backgrounds, where there are many other children. Older children often have to go to work in order to supply the family with much-needed funds for basic family needs or need to stay home to take care of younger siblings so that their parents can work. Many children come from non-English speaking homes with high mobility. Single parent homes have become the norm in the United States. Many children are products of divorce, separation or, sometimes, family violence. hey are not being raised by parents, but rather by aunts, uncles and grandparents. Families are not meeting some children’s basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. 3. The community they come from Many children live on the wrong side of the tracks in places where education is not valued, where drugs, gangs and violence abound. And where schools are low-performing, they often lack community and health support. 4. The schools they attend The schools are toxic to student learning, students, parents and staff. Students are suspended for minor infractions (such as â€Å"talking back to the teacher†), or placed in â€Å"remedial classes. † The schools have a culture of low expectations. They lack adequate guidance counseling. The curriculum is not relevant to the needs of the students being taught. Passive instructional strategies are being used without regard to individual student learning styles. Teachers are not trained in the latest teaching/learning/technology techniques. Funding is based on property values so that low-income neighborhoods receive less funding than wealthy neighborhoods. Because some states pass budgets in a less than timely matter, teachers are not hired in time producing over-sized classrooms. 5. The teachers they have The least-experienced, least classroom-trained teachers are often assigned to the most difficult schools. They enter the field with the expectation that they have been adequately prepared by the schools of education with the skills they need and they haven’t received. (See Arthur Levine, â€Å"Educating School Teachers†) They are leaving the field faster than colleges can prepare them. The teacher â€Å"dropout rate† is higher than the student dropout rate. Forty-six percent of teachers leave the field within five years. When asked why they leave, a majority state that they haven’t been properly prepared, have had increased demands placed on them because of high stakes testing and are not getting adequate support from their supervisors in dealing with classroom discipline. Like all generalities, there are exceptions to the information provided above. But, by and large, the statistics bear them out.

102 Frankenstein and Evaluations Professor Ramos Blog

102 Frankenstein and Evaluations Monster Theory The Question The question I want to consider now is: What does it mean to be human? Arguably, literary texts in charting human actions and emotions and so on, reflect back at us what makes us who we are? What makes us tick? By looking at the monsters we create, we can learn what is means to be human and/or to be humane. What Makes a Good Professor? Rate My Professor Come up with criteria for a good Professor. Start with the good ones you have had. The bad ones teach us just as much. 3 to 5 Criteria Dont pick just 1 and dont pick 20. It needs to be reasonable. Pick the best one. Grading Structure that makes sense. 4 stars 5 stars A,B,C,D,F 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-10 Doesnt matter. It just needs to make sense to you and your reader. This is easy with professors and restaurants because we do it all the time. Now we will apply these to the monsters we are evaluating. Monster Theory We have been talking about Frankenstein the past few days. Which of the seven monster theories apply to it? Thesis I. The Monster’s Body Is a Cultural Body (4) Thesis II. The Monster Always Escapes (4) Thesis III. The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis (6) Thesis IV. The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference (7) Thesis V. The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible (12) Thesis VI. Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire (16) Thesis VII. The Monster Stands at the Threshold . . . of Becoming (20) Monster Theory Class Notes

The Prince of Tides-Compare novel to film essays

The Prince of Tides-Compare novel to film essays The process of transforming this novel into a film takes away a tremendous amount from the original story. This is certainly the case with The Prince of Tides. Pat Conroy develops each character and brings to life each member and associate of the Wingo Family. I was disappointed with many of the characters in the film. In the novel many of the characters had a huge role in developing the personality of Tom Wingo, whereas in the film these character were either excluded or merely mentioned as a quick reference or a mere memory. The novel focuses on the dysfunctional relationship between the members of the Wingo Family and the affects of those relationships in the adult lives of those family members. Tom Wingo takes a trip to New York City, from his home in Colleton South Carolina, to visit his sister Savannah Wingo who has attempted suicide for the second time. Also to assist her Doctor with information about her past that will possibly lead to the suppressed memories that has brought her to this point. It is during these sessions that Tom reflects with unabridged detail on his childhood from birth to present date. These recollections, in my opinion, are the most captivating part of the story that was extracted from the film. For example: The story of the birth of the Wingo twins. During a hurricane, Amos Wingo and his servant Sarah Jenkins sought shelter and helped deliver his grandchildren Tom and Savannah, and save them and their mother Lila from certain death. This was a brilliantly poetic way to bri ng to light the turmoil that will surround the lives of Tom and Savannah. This type of dialogue allows the reader to connect emotionally with each character and was unfortunately edited from the film. The two most important events, which I feel had the biggest impact on the lives of Tom and Savannah, were also severely modified in the film. The rape of Tom, Savannah, and their mother Lila was a big pa ...