Catherine Bryant and Bruno Mascitelli
The Victorian School of Languages began on the margins of the Victorian education system in 1935 as a “special experiment” supported by the Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools…
Abstract
Purpose
The Victorian School of Languages began on the margins of the Victorian education system in 1935 as a “special experiment” supported by the Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools, J.A Seitz. The purpose of this paper is to present a historical analysis of the first 15 years of the “special experiment” and it reports on the school’s fragile beginnings.
Design/methodology/approach
The historical analysis draws on archival materials, oral sources and other primary documents from the first 15 years of the Saturday language classes, to explore its fragile role and status within the Victorian education system.
Findings
The Saturday language classes were experimental in nature and were initially intended to pilot niche subjects in the languages curriculum. Despite support from influential stakeholders, widespread interest and a promising response from teachers and students, the student enrolments dwindled, especially in the war years. As fate would have it, the two languages initially established (Japanese and Italian) faced a hostile war environment and only just survived. Questions about the continuing viability of the classes were raised, but they were championed by Seitz.
Originality/value
To date, this is one of few scholarly explorations of the origins of the Victorian School of Languages, a school which became a model for Australia’s other State Specialist Language Schools. This paper contributes to the literature about the VSL, a school that existed on the margins but played a pioneering role in the expansion of the language curriculum in Victoria.
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In this paper, I demonstrate an alternative explanation to the development of the American electricity industry. I propose a social embeddedness approach (Granovetter, 1985, 1992…
Abstract
In this paper, I demonstrate an alternative explanation to the development of the American electricity industry. I propose a social embeddedness approach (Granovetter, 1985, 1992) to interpret why the American electricity industry appears the way it does today, and start by addressing the following questions: Why is the generating dynamo located in well‐connected central stations rather than in isolated stations? Why does not every manufacturing firm, hospital, school, or even household operate its own generating equipment? Why do we use incandescent lamps rather than arc lamps or gas lamps for lighting? At the end of the nineteenth century, the first era of the electricity industry, all these technical as well as organizational forms were indeed possible alternatives. The centralized systems we see today comprise integrated, urban, central station firms which produce and sell electricity to users within a monopolized territory. Yet there were visions of a more decentralized electricity industry. For instance, a geographically decentralized system might have dispersed small systems based around an isolated or neighborhood generating dynamo; or a functionally decentralized system which included firms solely generating and transmitting the power, and selling the power to locally‐owned distribution firms (McGuire, Granovetter, and Schwartz, forthcoming). Similarly, the incandescent lamp was not the only illuminating device available at that time. The arc lamp was more suitable for large‐space lighting than incandescent lamps; and the second‐generation gas lamp ‐ Welsbach mantle lamp ‐ was much cheaper than the incandescent electric light and nearly as good in quality (Passer, 1953:196–197).
The integration of religion and democracy in the Kuwait National Assembly (KNA) produced definitions of democracy distinct from others in the region as well as from Kuwait's own…
Abstract
The integration of religion and democracy in the Kuwait National Assembly (KNA) produced definitions of democracy distinct from others in the region as well as from Kuwait's own national history. The uniqueness of Kuwait's democracy in the Arabian Peninsula is primarily due to the establishment of its parliament and constitution, which make it a constitutional rather than an absolute monarchy. The development of Kuwait's democracy relied heavily on the construction of its monumental national assembly building, designed to mix symbols of democracy as understood in Western discourse (see, for instance, the columniation inspired by the Greek Pantheon) with images inspired by local elements (like the tent): this combination allows the building to produce an image of democracy and independence that resonates with local as well as international populations.
The initial plan for the development of a national assembly building in Kuwait included a mosque that would have become part of the assembly complex. The mosque building was later replaced by a prayer hall inside the KNA building, and at the same time a decision to build a state mosque in a different location within the old city of Kuwait was confirmed. The separation of the two structures can be read, at first glance, as an important symbolic action expressing the separation of the church and state; yet an in-depth analysis of the KNA's design suggests different conclusions. This chapter explores how the design of the KNA building is apparently rooted in universal laws of spirituality and religion; on a related note, the tent-inspired building reveals a reliance on ancient religious traditions and proportions.
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Paul Freeman, Leslie Martin, Reinhard Mechler and Koko Warner
This paper addresses a critical problem in macroeconomic planning for natural disaster losses: how to incorporate potential future losses into current planning activity. The…
Abstract
This paper addresses a critical problem in macroeconomic planning for natural disaster losses: how to incorporate potential future losses into current planning activity. The authors develop a technique to integrate probabilistic natural hazard losses into macroeconomic planning models. Probabilistic losses to capital stock (direct losses) serve as input to a macroeconomic model, which consequently calculates the macroeconomic impacts. The macroeconomic effects calculated comprise the indirect effects of losing and not being able to replace capital stock sufficiently or in a timely manner, as well as the effects of diverting funds to relief and reconstruction activities. The modeling can serve as a tool for planning for the effects of natural disasters before they occur and for engaging in appropriate risk management activities.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the High Court's rejection of claims made against a UK bank by a US‐based customer in relation to foreign exchange dealing it carried out…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the High Court's rejection of claims made against a UK bank by a US‐based customer in relation to foreign exchange dealing it carried out as agent for its US affiliate based on common law and breaches of COBS Rules (BankLeumi (UK) plc v. Wachner, Queens Bench Division, Commercial Court; Mr Justice Faux).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper discusses this action and counterclaim by the defendant.
Findings
The Judge did not find any of the three causes of action underlying the counterclaim to have any foundation, and he found the defendant liable for the full amount of the claim.
Originality/value
This paper draws attention to investors' attempts to shift trading losses onto the counterparties with or through whom they dealt through the use of common law, fiduciary principles or statutory tort claims. Such claims have no chance of succeeding unless the claimants can establish that they were incorrectly classified as an expert customer. Another point of interest to draw from this decision is to recall that product design and pre‐emptive restrictions on product innovation are once again a prominent feature of current debates on regulatory reform.
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Jason David Andrews and James Connor
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the establishment of the Faculty of Military Studies (FMS) at the Royal Military…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the establishment of the Faculty of Military Studies (FMS) at the Royal Military College (RMC) at Duntroon between 1965 and 1968. And, in so doing, detail the academic culture and structure of the FMS at its inception in 1968.
Design/methodology/approach
Given the small body of literature on the subject, the chronology of events was developed primarily through archival research and interview transcripts, supplemented by correspondence and formal interviews with former academic staff of the FMS (UNSW HREAP A-12-44).
Findings
This paper reveals the motivations for, issues encountered, and means by which UNSW’s administration under Sir Philip Baxter were willing and able to work with the Army to establish the FMS. In so doing, it reveals the FMS as a “compromise institution” in which the role of UNSW and the academic staff was to deliver a professional education subordinate to the imperatives of the RMC’s socialization and military training regime.
Research limitations/implications
Primary materials were restricted to archived documentation comprised of correspondence and meeting minutes as well as a limited group of witnesses – both willing and able – to provide insight into UNSW and RMC in the mid-1960s.
Originality/value
This paper presents an original account of the establishment of the FMS and the role of Sir Philip Baxter and the UNSW administration in pioneering the institutional forbearer of the Australian Defence Force Academy.
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George Philip, A. MacNabb and W.J. Martin
This paper is based on the second of a two‐part report on a British Library Research and Development funded project which surveyed the information needs of, and provision for…
Abstract
This paper is based on the second of a two‐part report on a British Library Research and Development funded project which surveyed the information needs of, and provision for industry, commerce and agriculture in Northern Ireland. This article examines information provision for the agricultural sector while part one was concerned with the industrial and commercial sectors. The main information providers to the agricultural sector were identified as the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, The Ulster Farmers Union, The Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association, The Milk Marketing Board, The Livestock Marketing Commission and the agricultural education and research establishments. Each of these providers were interviewed as was a 2% sample of farmers throughout Northern Ireland. The survey of farmers showed that for the most part, farmers were satisfied with the present level of provision. It was noticeable that their information needs were not as acute as those of the industrial and commercial sectors. This could be attributed to the fact that most farms in Northern Ireland are small and there is a heavy reliance on tradition. Most farmers surveyed were of the impression that the information was available if needed. It was entirely coincidental that this survey was conducted at a time when active consideration was being given to the possible imposition of charges for the Department of Agriculture Advisory Services. Farmers rated the present advisory services quite highly, although few were aware of the full range of services available to them. This survey should be a useful pointer to existing trends in the use of services and should also indicate gaps in provision.
The centralization of power in the state and federal legislatures and in their associated professional bureaucracies is a notable feature of both educational and general political…
Abstract
The centralization of power in the state and federal legislatures and in their associated professional bureaucracies is a notable feature of both educational and general political decision making in Australia. In this paper “governance” refers to the process of exercising authoritative control, “politics” to public policy making and its resolution. Formal public participation in Australian educational decision making is shown to be minimal, being limited to representation by elected members in the state and federal legislatures. There is no local governmental structure or tax for education. The existing structures and their origins are explained. Two hypotheses derived from the work of Iannaccone are tested. The first states that the longer educational issues remain unsolved in the extra‐legal social networks and lower level legal areas the more likely it is that decisions on these questions will be made by central government departments and agencies. The second states that the more that questions of educational policy are resolved by central departments and agencies the more likely it is that educational policies will become undifferentiated from other kinds of politics or from politics as relating to other policy areas of government. An examination of political developments in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries supports both hypotheses.