Arts & Sciences Talks 2010
https://auspace.athabascau.ca/handle/2149/2959
2024-03-29T00:33:57ZAll for One-One for All - Will the Real Musketeer "Alexandre Dumas" Please Stand Up
https://auspace.athabascau.ca/handle/2149/3006
All for One-One for All - Will the Real Musketeer "Alexandre Dumas" Please Stand Up
Tirven-Gadum, Vina
Alexandre Dumas père is one of the most prolific and popular French writers of all times; he wrote over 1,200 volumes comprising of 250 plays, novels and travelogues, and was among the first writers in France to use the roman feuilleton (serialised novel). Without ever attaining the literary stature of the giants of his day like Hugo, Balzac, Stendhal, Flaubert, and Zola, he was, nevertheless, the most flamboyant and the most widely read of them all. All his writings brought him great success and popularity, and his exuberant imagination was equalled by no one except perhaps by Victor Hugo. He is especially known for his novels Le Comte de Monte Cristo, Les Trois Mousquetaires and La Reine Margot which have all been translated in various languages, made into films, adapted and serialised for television. Although his novels are placed in Hachette’s “bibliothèque verte” for young adolescents, these are only the sanitised or expurgated versions of his novels. With their sudden plot developments and high entertainment value, they represent the perfect examples of the typical action-packed swashbuckling novels, filled with swordfights, beautiful women, heroic men, cloak and dagger episodes and narrow escapes. Yet, there is another dimension to his writings: no other French writer of the 19th century has depicted scenes of political intrigues, vengeance, perversion, graphic eroticism, poisonings, torture, executions and beheadings quite like him. Due to his prolific output, questions concerning his collaboration with other writers such as Auguste Maquet have often been raised, and critics have judged his work harshly. Recently, however, he seems to have gained favour with the establishment and French critics alike, especially since the French President Jacques Chirac had his body exhumed and transported to the Panthéon in Paris, in 2002, and where he is now enshrined alongside such illustrious authors like Victor Hugo and Émile Zola.
2011-03-30T15:31:13ZIs Canada the Monkey or the Organ Grinder When it Comes to Proposed Copyright Legislation?
https://auspace.athabascau.ca/handle/2149/3005
Is Canada the Monkey or the Organ Grinder When it Comes to Proposed Copyright Legislation?
Smith, Jay
Twenty years ago copyright was an issue that attracted the attention of few people. In the digital age it has become a political hot potato, particularly in Canada. Many contend that the principle of fair dealing for private, research, and educational purposes is in danger of being eroded, an issue of particular consequence for Athabasca University. Some see the danger as stemming from within in the form of Bill C-32, the newly proposed copyright form act, with its emphasis on digital locks. Others see the primary problem as coming from without in the context of a changing global intellectual property enforcement regime putting enormous pressure on Canada to conform to global, primarily American, standards on copyright protection. This presentation links the local (Canadian copyright reform) to the global, in particular, Canada’s participation in the highly secretive negotiations of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which could set the global standards for intellectual property protection to which Canada will have to conform. Following the presentation, panelists Dr. Rory McGreal and Mark McCutcheon will be available to address questions from audience members.
2011-03-30T15:28:40ZChild Labour in Alberta; Incidence and Regulation
https://auspace.athabascau.ca/handle/2149/3004
Child Labour in Alberta; Incidence and Regulation
Barnetson, Bob
Significant numbers of children (9-11) and adolescents (12-14) in Alberta are employed. Many of these children and adolescents work in prohibited occupations and/or face violations of minimum statutory requirements for hours of work, wages, and deductions. The degree of illegal child labour suggests Alberta's complaint-driven approach to regulation is an inadequate way of enforcing child labour laws.
2011-03-30T15:26:27ZCapitalizing the Beauties: Cultural Institutions, Tourism and Art in Alberta
https://auspace.athabascau.ca/handle/2149/3003
Capitalizing the Beauties: Cultural Institutions, Tourism and Art in Alberta
Wall, Karen
Avant-garde art movements, extension education programs and public museums all have histories of attempting to dissolve institutional barriers, both literal and otherwise, between the arts and humanities and everyday life. This research project looks at the way Alberta cultural institutions have organized extension fine arts education within the context of broad political and economic agendas over the twentieth century. The presentation will focus on, first, the mid-century Banff School of Fine Arts as a university extension project whose visual arts programs interacted with both nation-building and regional tourism development. Jumping to the present, we then ask whether, following nearly a century of community arts education in the province, the general population consists of a high percentage of enthusiastic art lovers and art makers. Have metropolitan institutions developed, not only audiences, but frameworks of critical, informed dialogue among cultural consumers and producers? Will "severely normal" people flock to the shiny new Art Gallery of Alberta? Here the presentation will survey directions looking to contemporary moves toward democratizing cultural production through mobile learning, uncurated exhibitions, guerilla galleries and other innovative uses of urban space for cultural activity.
2011-03-30T15:23:18Z