The Effects of World War II on Significant Composers of Music for the Flute

World War II was one of the most devastating events in history, and it profoundly affected European culture and art. I examined the period around World War II, and the effects it had on the lives of composers and their flute music. I investigated who wrote for flute during the war, what they were composing, and what effects, if any, the war had on them and their music. After examining the biographies of nine composers and studying eleven of their works, I found that in some cases the war affected their flute music, but in others the music shows no apparent influences of the war. Interestingly, most of the flute music written by composers affected by World War II was happy and joyful rather than dark and dismal. I performed three recitals during my research. I studied nine composers and performed some of their most important works for flute. Recital One is “Sonatas for Flute.” Recital Two is “Virtuosic Flute Music,” and my final recital is “Emotional Overview of Flute Music During World War II.” I discovered that many of these composers had to change their lives in drastic ways due to the war, but most them wrote music that had did not reflect the horror or destruction of war—perhaps music represented an escape from their horrible circumstances, or an effort to recall better times. I also found that a few of these composers used music to mock the Nazi regime. They used music as an emotional outlet, which could have been dangerous for them during that time. Other composers used music to share their own personal experiences while fighting in the war.

RACISM IN DIGITAL ERA: DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL VALIDATION OF THE PERCEIVED ONLINE RACISM SCALE (PORS V1.0)

Racism continues to thrive on the Internet. Yet, little is known about racism in online settings and the potential consequences. The purpose of this study was to develop the Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS), the first measure to assess people’s perceived online racism experiences as they interact with others and consume information on the Internet. Items were developed through a multi-stage process based on literature review, focus-groups, and qualitative data collection. Based on a racially diverse large-scale sample (N = 1023), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a 30-item bifactor model with the following three factors: (a) 14-item PORS-IP (personal experiences of racism in online interactions), (b) 5-item PORS-V (observations of other racial/ethnic minorities being offended), and (c) 11-item PORS-I (consumption of online contents and information denigrating racial/ethnic minorities and highlighting racial injustice in society). Initial construct validity examinations suggest that PORS is significantly linked to psychological distress.