The Promise of Access: Hope and Inequality in the Information Economy

In 2013, a series of posters began appearing in Washington, DC’s Metro system. Each declared “The internet: Your future depends on it” next to a photo of a middle-aged black Washingtonian, and an advertisement for the municipal government’s digital training resources. This hopeful discourse is familiar but where exactly does it come from? And how are our public institutions reorganized to approach the problem of poverty as a problem of technology? The Clinton administration’s ‘digital divide’ policy program popularized this hopeful discourse about personal computing powering social mobility, positioned internet startups as the ‘right’ side of the divide, and charged institutions of social reproduction such as schools and libraries with closing the gap and upgrading themselves in the image of internet startups. After introducing the development regime that builds this idea into the urban landscape through what I call the ‘political economy of hope’, and tracing the origin of the digital divide frame, this dissertation draws on three years of comparative ethnographic fieldwork in startups, schools, and libraries to explore how this hope is reproduced in daily life, becoming the common sense that drives our understanding of and interaction with economic inequality and reproduces that inequality in turn. I show that the hope in personal computing to power social mobility becomes a method of securing legitimacy and resources for both white émigré technologists and institutions of social reproduction struggling to understand and manage the persistent poverty of the information economy. I track the movement of this common sense between institutions, showing how the political economy of hope transforms them as part of a larger development project. This dissertation models a new, relational direction for digital divide research that grounds the politics of economic inequality with an empirical focus on technologies of poverty management. It demands a conceptual shift that sees the digital divide not as a bug within the information economy, but a feature of it.

SOLO AND CHAMBER CLARINET WORKS BY AMERICAN- BORN WOMEN COMPOSERS: 1990-2005

During the period of 1990-2005, American-born women composers have contributed significantly to the standard clarinet repertoire. Pioneering composers such as Joan Tower, Margaret Brouwer, and Libby Larsen have created staples for clarinet literature. Yet, there is very little scholarly research on women composers of clarinet music, most being concentrated on Joan Tower. Through my research, I have discovered over seventy-five works by more than fifty composers in the following genres: solo clarinet; clarinet and piano; clarinet and voice, with or without piano; and small chamber pieces for up to five players. This performance dissertation project consists of three recitals featuring solo and chamber works by nine living women composers, and program notes containing pertinent biographical and compositional information. My intent is to increase recognition women composers, both prominent and lesser known, who are writing high-quality, accessible clarinet literature. Each woman selected is making a full or partial living from the sales of her compositions, has received recognition through awards, commissions, grants, and frequent performances, and has composed works that are both performer and audience accessible. Recital 1: Trios for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano Commissioned by the Verdehr Trio and Composed by American-Born Women Composers. Composers: Jennifer Higdon, Joan Tower, Margaret Brouwer, and Libby Larsen. Recital II: Programmatic Clarinet Works by American-Born Women Composers. Composers: Andrea Clearfield, Stella Sung, and Karen Amrhein. Recital III: Works for Solo Clarinet, Clarinet and Piano, and Clarinet Concerto Genres by American-Born Women Composers. Composers: Persis Parshall Vehar, Jenni Brandon, Margaret Brouwer, and Libby Larsen.

TEACHING AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSIC IDSTORY WITH MODERN EDITIONS OF PERIOD MUSIC FOR FULL CONCERT BAND

This dissertation explores a method of teaching the history of Civil War music and musicians through modern full-band editions of original brass band music. In the study of music history the period of the Civil War is rarely discussed, or at best, mentioned only if a student takes a specific course on the history of bands and happens to look deeply into the background of some of the early band pioneers such as Patrick Gilmore, who served in the Union Army as a bandmaster. The history of the musicians, bands, and music performed during the Civil War deserves study to provide a way for students and audiences to learn this history. This project includes lesson plans that can be used with the arrangements of the period music as well as select published music that is also representative of the period. Included with the historical information are four arrangements of original brass band music now scored for full concert band. Each arrangement includes a section scored for brass only with optional brass band parts. Historical information is provided on the Civil War period bands and how each side used them, on the composers of the music, and also on the individual compositions. The historical information can be used to supplement the lesson plans to teach the history, as well as for program notes for audiences. The research involved locating information on both Union and Confederate bands available in books, other dissertations, articles, and interviews with Civil War music historians. The original brass band music is scored for full band. This method will allow teachers and conductors to highlight this period of wind band history and to share it with both students and audiences. Included with this project are photos and video footage taken during a visit with the 1st Brigade Band of Watertown, Wisconsin, an historical organization dedicated to recreating the music and performances of an actual Civil War era band.

Developing Quantitative Methodologies for the Digital Humanities: A Case Study of 20th Century American Commentary on Russian Literature

Using scientific methods in the humanities is at the forefront of objective literary analysis. However, processing big data is particularly complex when the subject matter is qualitative rather than numerical. Large volumes of text require specialized tools to produce quantifiable data from ideas and sentiments. Our team researched the extent to which tools such as Weka and MALLET can test hypotheses about qualitative information. We examined the claim that literary commentary exists within political environments and used US periodical articles concerning Russian literature in the early twentieth century as a case study. These tools generated useful quantitative data that allowed us to run stepwise binary logistic regressions. These statistical tests allowed for time series experiments using sea change and emergency models of history, as well as classification experiments with regard to author characteristics, social issues, and sentiment expressed. Both types of experiments supported our claim with varying degrees, but more importantly served as a definitive demonstration that digitally enhanced quantitative forms of analysis can apply to qualitative data. Our findings set the foundation for further experiments in the emerging field of digital humanities.

Diversity and Inclusion at UMD Libraries Survey Results

The survey was made available online to library faculty, staff, and student workers. Participation in the survey was completely voluntary, and each individual question was entirely optional. In accordance with UMD policy, responses were treated as confidential. Fewer than five responses in a particular category were considered identifiable by the U.S. Department of Education and were not included in this report. Those who participated in the survey represent a significant portion of the Libraries’ community.