A community college's performance of 'organisation' : it's a drag!

Noting the ever-increasing encroachment of discourses and practices from the private sector on public education providers, this paper argues that such organizations exist within competing sets of differences that seek to define and fix the meaning of 'education' and 'business'. We report on fieldwork conducted in an adult education college in Sydney. In the Australian context these colleges are referred to as community colleges and their history is one based in a strong liberal tradition. Utilising Judith Butler's idea of 'drag' we consider the effects of changing modes of governance in the college with specific reference to the stories told to us about it. Our discussion suggests that the organisation was caught between identifying itself with a masculinised discourse of business and a discourse of community cast as its feminised other. In navigating between these, the college was seen to perform as a 'drag king' — an organisation performing the masculine but in so doing, undoing its gendered status. This leads us to suggest that the incorporation of business and market-based discourse into the management of community education is something that is actively resisted and undermined through such forms of gendered transgression. We conclude by proposing that this organization's capacity to perform drag is a contributing factor to its overall success, and particularly in an economic climate where many not-for-profit organisations are floundering

'Unconscionable mystification'? : rooms, spaces and the prose poem

Since the 19th century, when a number of French writers—most conspicuously Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud—introduced what we may think of as the modern prose poem into European literature, prose poetry has been part of a significant debate about the contemporary usefulness of existing literary modes and genres. While early French practitioners partly used the form to subvert and problematise traditional poetic prosody, once this aim was achieved prose poetry remained a significant contemporary literary form, achieving wide acceptance. In the context of contemporary developments and manifestations of prose poetry, this article discusses John Frow’s comments that texts might “‘perform’ a genre, or modify it in ‘using’ it, or only partially realise a generic form, or … be composed of a mix of different genres” (2015: 11). It also discusses the authors’ Rooms and Spaces project, which explores—and exemplifies through its component of creative practice—ways in which prose poetry may be considered “poetic”; how the forms of prose poetry may be room-like and condensed; or open and highly suggestive (sometimes both at once); how prose poetry is intertextual and polysemous; and how prose poetry frequently conveys a sense of completeness despite tending to be fragmentary. Prose poetry may generically problematic but the authors suggest that this may make it an exemplary post-postmodern form of writing; and that reading prose poetry may provide significant insights into understanding how unstable genre boundaries really are.

Having sex with capitalism: parodic in-citation in the prose poem sequence

In his Spleen de Paris or Petits poèmes en prose [Little Prose Poems] Baudelaire (1869) forges an instrument of supple and radical potential, declaring the prose poem a ‘dangerous’ hybrid, which he wills elastic enough and staccato enough, to register the flows, jolts and distractions for the flâneur in the increasingly industrialised Paris. Here,by the mid-19th century, plate glass and gas lighting enable conspicuous consumption. Itis most strikingly the romantic-erotic and the relation between poet and his delicious, execrable wife, his inescapable, pitiless Muse (Baudelaire 1989: 177] that provides the nexus for radical questioning of the whole socio-political economy. Departing from Johnson’s Défigurations (1979) and using Irigaray’s (1984) hypothesis that the economy of sexual difference is the founding trope for the discursive and thus political economy of differences – of culture, ethnicity and class – this article first looks at theway Baudelaire activates the heterosexual relation as a site for social critique. It examines how Perec continues Baudelaire’s prose poetry experiment, offering, pre-May 1968, a revolutionary critique of desire by exploiting formal constraints to deconstruct still further the consumer subject of capitalism. It then investigates Brossard’s ‘hologrammatic’ challenge (1991) to patriarchal regimes of representation and the forms of desire they outlaw. Finally, it suggests how new work by Walwicz (2015)develops and displaces this radical inheritance.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders

© 2015 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Objectives: To provide guidance for the management of mood disorders, based on scientific evidence supplemented by expert clinical consensus and formulate recommendations to maximise clinical salience and utility. Methods: Articles and information sourced from search engines including PubMed and EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Google Scholar were supplemented by literature known to the mood disorders committee (MDC) (e.g., books, book chapters and government reports) and from published depression and bipolar disorder guidelines. Information was reviewed and discussed by members of the MDC and findings were then formulated into consensus-based recommendations and clinical guidance. The guidelines were subjected to rigorous successive consultation and external review involving: expert and clinical advisors, the public, key stakeholders, professional bodies and specialist groups with interest in mood disorders. Results: The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders (Mood Disorders CPG) provide up-to-date guidance and advice regarding the management of mood disorders that is informed by evidence and clinical experience. The Mood Disorders CPG is intended for clinical use by psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians and others with an interest in mental health care. Conclusions: The Mood Disorder CPG is the first Clinical Practice Guideline to address both depressive and bipolar disorders. It provides up-to-date recommendations and guidance within an evidence-based framework, supplemented by expert clinical consensus. Mood Disorders Committee: Professor Gin Malhi (Chair), Professor Darryl Bassett, Professor Philip Boyce, Professor Richard Bryant, Professor Paul Fitzgerald, Dr Kristina Fritz, Professor Malcolm Hopwood, Dr Bill Lyndon, Professor Roger Mulder, Professor Greg Murray, Professor Richard Porter and Associate Professor Ajeet Singh. International expert advisors: Professor Carlo Altamura, Dr Francesco Colom, Professor Mark George, Professor Guy Goodwin, Professor Roger McIntyre, Dr Roger Ng, Professor John O'Brien, Professor Harold Sackeim, Professor Jan Scott, Dr Nobuhiro Sugiyama, Professor Eduard Vieta, Professor Lakshmi Yatham. Australian and New Zealand expert advisors: Professor Marie-Paule Austin, Professor Michael Berk, Dr Yulisha Byrow, Professor Helen Christensen, Dr Nick De Felice, A/Professor Seetal Dodd, A/Professor Megan Galbally, Dr Josh Geffen, Professor Philip Hazell, A/Professor David Horgan, A/Professor Felice Jacka, Professor Gordon Johnson, Professor Anthony Jorm, Dr Jon-Paul Khoo, Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, Dr Cameron Lacey, Dr Noeline Latt, Professor Florence Levy, A/Professor Andrew Lewis, Professor Colleen Loo, Dr Thomas Mayze, Dr Linton Meagher, Professor Philip Mitchell, Professor Daniel O'Connor, Dr Nick O'Connor, Dr Tim Outhred, Dr Mark Rowe, Dr Narelle Shadbolt, Dr Martien Snellen, Professor John Tiller, Dr Bill Watkins, Dr Raymond Wu.

Light Coverage on Colby College Campus

Outdoor lighting is an essential component for nighttime safety on college campuses. Outdoor lighting on Colby College campus is not uniform, leaving some areas with minimal light. The purpose of this project is to analytically evaluate if and where major walkways on Colby College have inadequate lighting. While we were unable to define inadequate lighting, we found that most paths on campus do appear to be well lit, while in general open spaces on campus have the lowest light levels.

Spatial Analysis of Colby College Trails: Perkins Arboretum and Runnals Hill

I created an updated map of trails at Colby College using global positioning system data that were then edited in ArcGIS. The map background, obtained from the Maine Office of GIS, was created from digital orthophotographs produced from aerial photos collected over southwest Maine in Spring 2003. Trail difficulty was determined by creating a slope layer and taking other factors into consideration such as ground surface and path width. The map will eventually be available online, enabling interactive selection of trails where users can access additional trail information.

A Spatial Analysis of Impervious Surfaces at Colby College in 1965 and 2006

Roads, parking lots, buildings, and other impervious surfaces do not allow rainwater to infiltrate the ground. As a result, they can lead to an increase in runoff to nearby ditches and streams, as well as a greater influx of pollutants such as motor oil that can often be found on paved surfaces. For this project, GIS was used to find the total area covered by impervious surfaces on the Colby campus, and to show how this area has grown in the past 40 years. It was found that new development on the campus has lead to a 56% increase in impervious surfaces at Colby since 1965.

Analysis of Future Construction Possibilities on the Colby College Campus

With the recent construction of Colby Green and the current plans for the construction of several new buildings, the total area for future development on campus has declined. The goal of this study was to illustrate existing campus development and to determine where future growth could occur. GIS was used to in determining the different soil systems on campus, the current use of the land, and the boundaries of the Colby property. The project shows what potential obstacles the college will have in attempting to expand the campus and proposes where the best options are for construction are.

Perspective: LaGuardia Community College Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 5

A newsletter published periodically to keep the faculty, students, staff, and community informed about the activities taking place on the campus of LaGuardia Community College. Cover article: SONY SHIFT SCHEDULED SOON, SPOKESMAN SAYS. Other entries include: CUNY TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD TO PROFESSOR MILLER; CHILD CARE LEAVE ADOPTED BY BHE; NINETY SENIOR CITIZENS RECEIVE CERTIFICATES; COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT TO BE HELD AT QUEENS COLLEGE AUDITORIUM; DEAN PALMER TO SING AT SEPT. 16, COMMENCEMENT; FOUR MORE PARAPROFESSIONALS COMPLETE DEGREES.”

Perspective: LaGuardia Community College Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 2

"A newsletter published periodically to keep the faculty, students, staff, and community informed about the activities taking place on the campus of LaGuardia Community College." No date [1973]; Vol. 1, No. 2; 4 pages; Color (green, black & white); black & white photographs. Cover article: “BLACK HISTORY WEEK AT LAGUARDIA”. Other entries include: “LAGUARDIA’S FIRST ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT SCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY, SEPT. 16;” “LAGUARDIA FIVE SEEKS FIRST VICTORY.”