'Dis ain't gimme, Florida': Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Who owns Zora Neale Hurston? That was the question asked in 1990 by Michele Wallace, in an analysis of the ways in which Hurston has been appropriated by later scholars. Wallace's pungent comparison of later critics to so many 'groupies descending on Elvis Presley's estate' in their haste to turn Hurston to their own purposes strikes a cautionary note for any subsequent writer. As she notes, the risk of canonization is that the work will be misused to derail the future of blackwomen in literature and literary criticism. For Wallace, Harold's introduction to his Modern Critical Views anthology of 1986 is a case in point. This article is copyright 2003 MHRA, and is included in this repository with permission.

The spatial character of sensor technology

By considering the spatial character of sensor-based interactive systems, this paper investigates how discussions of seams and seamlessness in ubiquitous computing neglect the complex spatial character that is constructed as a side-effect of deploying sensor technology within a space. Through a study of a torch (`flashlight') based interface, we develop a framework for analysing this spatial character generated by sensor technology. This framework is then used to analyse and compare a range of other systems in which sensor technology is used, in order to develop a design spectrum that contrasts the revealing and hiding of a system's structure to users. Finally, we discuss the implications for interfaces situated in public spaces and consider the benefits of hiding structure from users.

Doctors' thinking about the system as a threat to patient safety

‘Systems thinking’ is an important feature of the emerging ‘patient safety’ agenda. As a key component of a ‘safety culture’, it encourages clinicians to look past individual error to recognise the latent factors that threaten safety. This paper investigates whether current medical thinking is commensurate with the idea of ‘systems thinking’ together with its implications for policy. The findings are based on qualitative semistructured interviews with specialist physicians working within one NHS District General Hospital in the English Midlands. It is shown that, rather then favouring a 'person-centred’ perspective, doctors readily identify ‘the system’ as a threat to patient safety. This is not necessarily a reflection of the prevailing safety discourse or knowledge of policy, but reflects a tacit understanding of how services are (dis)organised. This line of thinking serves to mitigate individual wrong-doing and protect professional credibility by encouraging doctors to accept and accommodate the shortcomings of the system, rather than participate in new forms of organisational learning.