The Aesthetics of Motion in Musics for the Mevlana Celal ed-Din Rumi

This dissertation investigates the concept of motion as a fundamental aesthetic element in the devotional music, dance, and rituals performed in honor of the celebrated thirteenth-century Persian mystic poet and saint, the Mevlana Celal ed-Din Muhammad Rumi. The main focus of the study is threefold. First, it investigates the prevalence of the notion of movement in Islamic music and culture, specifically within the Sufi communities of Turkey, in order to arrive at a broader understanding of the relationship between music, aesthetics, and worldview. Secondly, it explores how musical performance functions as a form of devotion or religious worship by focusing on the musical repertories performed in honor of a single holy figure, the Mevlana Rumi. Finally, it provides an ethnographic account of contemporary developments in Sufi musical culture in Turkey and across the world by describing the recent activities of the Mevlana's devotees, which includes members of the Mevlevi Order of Islamic mystics as well as adherents of other Sufi brotherhoods and followers of so-called New Religions or New Age. The primary research for this study involved two short one-month field trips to Turkey and India in 2002 and 2003, respectively, and a longer one year expedition to Turkey in 2004 and 2005, which also included shorter stays in Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt. Additionally, the dissertation draws directly from critical theories advanced in the fields of ethnomusicology, cultural anthropology, and ethnochoreology and focuses on the kinesthetic parameters of music, dance, trance, and ritual as well as on broader forms of socio-cultural movement including pilgrimage, cultural tourism, and globalization. These forms of movement are analyzed in four broad categories of music used in worship, including classical Mevlevi music, music of the zikr ceremony, popular musics, and non-Turkish musics.

SELECTED REPERTOIRE OF THE GILLET COMPETITION FROM 1996 TO 2006

There are many bassoon competitions around the world- and one of the most famous is the Gillet competition, sponsored by the International Double Reed Society. In 1981, it was established as an annual event, the "Femand Gillet Bassoon Competition"- a title expanded in 2000 to the "Femand Gillet-Hugo Fox Bassoon Competition." My goal was to explore the history of the competition, the availability of the repertoire selected for each competition, and the difficulties performing each piece. Through this journey, I was able to discover the variety of material chosen and how it was used, the quality, value, and the importance of the repertoire in each competition. For example, Ferdinand David's Concertino op.12, the style of the piece provides romantic, operatic type lyricism, a flashy presto section and finale, makes it as a standard romantic piece in the bassoon repertoire; Otmar Nussio's Variations on an Air by Pergolesi, contains a slow theme and few diverse variations, which provides a contemporary style music with the traditional music form and descriptive quality. The result of learning this repertoire proves that different styles of music in the competition demonstrate the artistry of the bassoon repertoire and music history in relationship of the development of the instrument. My first dissertation recital featured: Concerto for Bassoon, K. 191 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Concertino by Marcel Bitsch; Metamorphoses by Leslie Bassett; and Sonatine by Alexandre Tansman. My second recital featured: Concerto in E minor, RV 484 by Antonio Vivaldi; On the Summer Map of Stars by Gordon Kerry; Concertino Opus12 by Ferdinand David; Elegie by Jacques Hetu; and Interferences by Roger Boutry. My third recital featured: Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV1008 by Johann Sebastian Bach; Combinaciones: Sonatina para Fagot y Piano by Salvador Ranieri; Andante e Rondo Ungarese Opus 35 by Carl Maria von Weber; and Variations on an Air by Pergolesi for Bassoon and Piano by Otmar Nussio.

FROM THE AETHIOPICA TO THE RENAISSANCE: RECOVERING A STAGE TRADITION OF POSITIVE REPRESENTATION OF AFRICANS IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND

This dissertation looks at the connection between Heliodorus's fifth-century prose romance, An Aethiopian History, certain Renaissance texts, and how these texts helped influence an alternate representation of Africans in the early modern world. Through their portrayals of Africans, early modern English playwrights frequently give the impression that Africans, especially black Africans, were people without accomplishments, without culture. Previously, however, this was not the case. Africans were depicted with dignity, as a tradition existed for this kind of representation--and Renaissance Europe had long been acquainted with the achievements of Africans, dating back to antiquity. As the source of several lost plays, the Aethiopica is instrumental in dramatizing Africans favorably, especially on the early modern stage, and helped shape a stage tradition that runs alongside the stereotyping of Africans. This Heliodoran tradition can be seen in works of Greene, Heywood, Jonson, Shakespeare, and others in the motifs of crosscultural and transracial romance, male and female chastity, racial metamorphosis, lost or abandoned babies, wandering heroes, and bold heroines. In Jonson's Masque of Blackness and Masque of Beauty, I establish a connection between these two masques and Heliodorus's Aethiopica and argue for a Heliodoran stage tradition implicit in both masques through the conceit of blanching. In The English Moore, I explore how Richard Brome uses the Heliodoran and Jonsonian materials to create a negative quality of blackness that participates in the dramatic tradition of the degenerate African on the English Renaissance stage. With Othello, I contend that it is a drama that can be seen in the Heliodoran tradition by stressing certain motifs found in the play that derives from the Aethiopica. Reading Othello this way provides us with a more layered and historicized interpretation of Shakespeare's protagonists. Othello's nationality and faith make his exalted position in Venice and the Venetian army credible and logical. His nobility and heroic status become more sharply defined, giving us a fuller understanding of the emphasis he places on chastity--both for himself and for Desdemona. Instead of a traditional, compliant, and submissive Desdemona, a courageous, resourceful, witty, and pure heroine emerges--one who lives by the dictates of her conscience than by the constraints of societal norms. Recovering the tradition of positive portrayal of Africans that originated from the Aethiopica necessitated an examination of eleven plays that I contend helped to frame the dramatic tradition under investigation. Six of these plays are continental dramas, and five are English. Although three of the English plays are lost and the other two are seventeenth-century dramas, their titles and names of their protagonists, like those of the six extant continental plays, share the names of Heliodorus's hero and heroine, making an exploration of the continental plays imperative to facilitate their use as paradigms in reconstructing the three lost English plays. These continental dramas show that plays whose titles derive from the Aethiopica itself or reflect the names of its major characters follow Heliodorus's text closely, enabling an investigation of the Heliodoran tradition on the early modern English stage. Recovering the Heliodoran tradition adds to the exploration of racial politics and the understanding of the dramatic tradition that constrained and enabled Renaissance playwrights' representation of race and gender.

CABARET: MIRROR OF SOCIETIES

The basic definition of a cabaret is a café that offers live entertainment performed by singers, musicians and dancers and serves food and drink. It is generally housed in small, intimate spaces. Starting in the middle of the nineteenth century, artists, composers and writers met at Parisian cafés and salons to share their works. The cabaret was a suitable place for social activities. Artists could meet, discuss their opinions, and share their art in a relaxed setting. Even though cabaret music was often based on popular idioms, social and political commentary coupled with satirical settings represented the true soul of the genre. This trend flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first cabaret in Paris, Le Chat Noir inspired the growth of similar places in major cities throughout Europe besides Paris. The three recitals that comprise this dissertation project were performed at University of Maryland venues: the Robert & Arlene Kogod Theatre on 11 May 2011, Ulrich Recital Hall on 4 December 2011, and Gildenhorn Recital Hall on 4 March 2012. The repertoire for the first recital included works by Erik Satie with mezzo-soprano Monica Soto-Gil, Friedrich Hollaender with soprano Gabrielle DeMers, William Bolcom with baritone Ethan Watermeier and mezzo-soprano Stepanie Sadownik, and Poulenc with baritone Andrew McLaughlin. André Previn‘s Tango Song and Dance with violinist Jennifer Kim served as the instrumental interlude. The second recital included songs by Friedrich Hollaender with mezzo-soprano Monica Soto-Gil, Hanns Eisler and Viktor Ullmann with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Sadownik, and Mischa Spoliansky with soprano CarrieAnne Winter. Victor Hollaender‘s Romance and Albumblatt were the instrumental interludes with violinist Jennifer Kim. The last recital featured works for piano and violin, the Graceful Ghost Rag by William Bolcom with violinist Jenny Wu, Four Souvenirs by Paul Schoenfield with violinist Jennifer Kim, Cabaret Songs by Benjamin Britten with soprano Linda Mabbs, and Souvenirs for piano four-hands by Samuel Barber with pianist Rita Sloan. The recitals were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

Drug Delivery through the Blood-Brain Barrier through Use of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule 1- Targeted Nanoparticles

The blood brain barrier (BBB) is a semi-permeable membrane separating the brain from the bloodstream, preventing many drugs that treat neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, from reaching the brain. Our project aimed to create a novel drug delivery system targeting the brain during neural inflammation. We developed a cationic solid lipid nanoparticle (CSLN) complex composed of cationic nanoparticles, biotin, streptavidin, and anti-vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (anti- VCAM-1) antibodies. The anti-VCAM-1 antibody is used to target VCAM-1, a cell adhesion protein found on the BBB endothelium. VCAM-1 expression is elevated in the presence of inflammatory molecules, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- α). Through the use of a simple BBB model, results showed that our novel drug delivery system experienced some level of success in targeting the brain inflammation due to increasing TNF-α concentrations. This is promising for drug delivery research and provides support for VCAM-1 targeting using more robust and complex BBB models.