Critical Theory and Visual Practice in the Art School

This paper reflects upon the recent debates concerning the relationship between theory and practice in British art schools. Much has been done during the last two decades by artists, academics, writers and exhibition curators to bridge the traditional polarization between thinking and making. Underlying this venture is the keenly felt conviction that our task as teachers is to work with our students to develop creative practices which make a difference – particularly in relation to how we might use the arts to reformulate the ways in which we articulate our sense of self in a wider social and political context. In the last thirty years we have witnessed a sea change in art schools. The formerly inward looking reclusive art school culture is now inhabited by groups and individuals who are engaged in the everyday concerns of consumer culture and are committed to, first of all, harness creative production as an agent of change and, second, reject the notion that art practice is divorced from theoretical concerns.     

The impact of chronic carbohydrate manipulation on mucosal immunity in elite endurance athletes

Carbohydrate (CHO) availability could alter mucosal immune responses to exercise. This study compared the effect of three dietary approaches to CHO availability on resting and post-exercise s-IgA levels. Elite race walkers (n = 26) adhered to a high CHO diet (HCHO), periodised CHO availability (PCHO) or a low CHO/high fat diet (LCHF) for 3 weeks while completing an intensified training program. HCHO and PCHO groups consumed 8.0–8.5 g.kg^?1 CHO daily, with timing of ingestion manipulated to alter CHO availability around key training sessions. The LCHF diet comprised 80% fat and restricted CHO to < 50 g.day^?1. A race walk test protocol (19 km females, 25 km males) was completed at baseline, after adaptation, and following CHO restoration. On each occasion, saliva samples were obtained pre- and post-exercise to quantify s-IgA levels. Resting s-IgA secretion rate substantially increased ~ two-fold post-intervention in all groups (HCHO: 2.2 ± 2.2, PCHO: 2.8 ± 3.2, LCHF: 1.6 ± 1.6; fold-change± 95% confidence limits), however, no substantial differences between dietary treatments were evident. Post-exercise, substantial 20–130% increases in s-IgA concentration and 43–64% reductions in flow rate occurred in all dietary treatments, with trivial differences evident between groups. It appears that high volume training overrides any effect of manipulating CHO availability on mucosal immunity in elite athletes.     

Physiological responses to 1000-m ergometer time-trial performance in outrigger canoeing

Graded exercise tests are commonly used to assess peak physiological capacities of athletes. However, unlike time trials, these tests do not provide performance information. The aim of this study was to examine the peak physiological responses of female outrigger canoeists to a 1000-m ergometer time trial and compare the time-trial performance to two graded exercise tests performed at increments of 7.5 W each minute and 15 W each two minutes respectively. 17 trained female outrigger canoeists completed the time trial on an outrigger canoe ergometer with heart rate (HR), stroke rate, power output, and oxygen consumption (VO2) determined every 15 s. The mean (+/- s) time-trial time was 359 +/- 33 s, with a mean power output of 65 +/- 16 W and mean stroke rate of 56 +/- 4 strokes min(-1). Mean values for peak VO2, peak heart rate, and mean heart rate were 3.17 +/- 0.67 litres min(-1), 177 +/- 11 beats min(-1), and 164 +/- 12 beats min(-1) respectively. Compared with the graded exercise tests, the time-trial elicited similar values for peak heart rate, peak power output, peak blood lactate concentration, and peak VO2. As a time trial is sport-specific and can simultaneously quantify sprint performance and peak physiological responses in outrigger canoeing, it is suggested that a time trial be used by coaches for crew selection as it doubles as a reliable performance measure and a protocol for monitoring peak aerobic capacity of female outrigger canoeists.     

Texts

Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge. Richard Delgado (Ed.), Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995, 592 pages, $29.95 (softcover). ISBN 1–5663–9348–5.

Dreamseekers: Creative Approaches to the African American Heritage. Anita Manley and Cecily O'Neill (Eds.), Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1997, 175 pages, $24.50 (softcover). ISBN 0–4350–7045–2.

Places of Memory: Whiteman's Schools and Native American Communities. Alan Peshkin, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997, 150 pages, $22.50 (softcover). ISBN 0–8058–2469–3.     

A Thirteenth-Century Scholar in the Eastern Mediterranean: Sirāj al-Dīn Urmavī, Jurist,Logician, Diplomat

This essay examines the career of the Shafi?ī jurist and logician Sirāj al-Dīn Urmavī (1198–1283), who combined his scholarly and judicial activities with ambassadorial appointments to Frederick II, King of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor, and the Ilkhan Hülegü. Originally from Azerbaijan, Sirāj al-Dīn spent most of his professional life in Ayyūbid Cairo and, from 1257, in Seljuk Konya, where he spent the final decades of his life as chief qadi. Through a contextualised reading of the extant biographical information for Sirāj al-Dīn, the article draws particular attention to two aspects of his physical and professional trajectory. First, the essay situates Sirāj al-Dīn's career in the context of processes of cultural change in thirteenth-century Anatolia. It seeks to demonstrate both the transfer and adaptation to the Anatolian urban milieu of social–cultural patterns attested for the a?yān in neighbouring predominantly Muslim societies, and the shaping of the social and cultural functions of immigrant scholars to Anatolia by local conditions. Second, the article identifies Sirāj al-Dīn as a prominent participant in an intellectual community engaged in inter-cultural exchange across political and confessional boundaries in the thirteenth-century eastern Mediterranean.     

Field and laboratory correlates of performance in competitive cross-country mountain bikers

We designed a laboratory test with variable fixed intensities to simulate cross-country mountain biking and compared this to more commonly used laboratory tests and mountain bike performance. Eight competitive male mountain bikers participated in a cross-country race and subsequently did six performance tests: an individual outdoor time trial on the same course as the race and five laboratory tests. The laboratory tests were as follows: an incremental cycle test to fatigue to determine peak power output; a 26-min variable fixed-intensity protocol using an electronically braked ergometer followed immediately by a 1-km time trial using the cyclist's own bike on an electronically braked roller ergometer; two 52-min variable fixed-intensity protocols each followed by a 1-km time trial; and a 1-km time trial done on its own. Outdoor competition time and outdoor time trial time correlated significantly (r = 0.79, P < 0.05). Both outdoor tests correlated better with peak power output relative to body mass (both r = -0.83, P < 0.05) than absolute peak power output (outdoor competition: r = -0.65; outdoor time trial: r = -0.66; non-significant). Outdoor performance times did not correlate with the laboratory tests. We conclude that cross-country mountain biking is similar to uphill or hilly road cycling. Further research is required to design sport-specific tests to determine the remaining unexplained variance in performance.     

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