Browsing by Subject "Interpretation"
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Item A comprehensive study of anatta and its relative truth within Buddhism(2006-12) Stout, Jerry; Webb, Mark O.; Kim, SungsuOften-times we question how two rational, logical, and intelligent people can observe a scenario or argument and come away with varying degrees of belief. The question of personal identity is no different, the self maintains its critics and followers, it is well documented through argumentation, defense, and theory, but though these arguments exist on three sides as rational and passionate defenses, debate continues between the three unique and well-founded sides of this issue. Whether it's the reductionist, the non-reductionist, or the no-self theorist, debate and disagreement exists over the consistency of doctrine and the viability of the theories presented by each group. To understand and decipher the elements of the debate, I propose a relative understanding of the question of personal identity, one consistent with the doctrine of Philosophical Relativity advocated by Peter Unger. Through careful study of the critiques, counter-theories, and counter-arguments of the doctrine of anatta, I seek to provide compelling reasons to doubt that an absolute answer to the question of the self is possible but also that a relative understanding of the no-self doctrine is plausible. Moreover, I focus on a new and distinct interpretation of the teachings of the Buddha, one of the central proponents of the no-self theory, whereby we consider a connection between the doctrine of Philosophical Relativity and one of the core metaphysical doctrines of Buddhism. Thus, I seek to accomplish two important tasks: I seek to cast doubt upon the absolute assumptions which drive the debate within personal identity, and I further hope to argue for a new interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings that is both consistent with the possible relative nature of the question of personal identity and true to the doctrine of anatta itself.Item Designed communication : structures that shape meaning(2002) Rodgers, Angela Sue; Not availableItem Designing visitor engagement for online museum exhibitions(2012-08) Briggs, Brian; Cho, Hyojung; White, Scott; Dean, David K.For many museum professionals, particularly those who work in American history museums, designing exhibitions that engage a broad audience can be a difficult, but necessary, matter. As these professionals try to compete in new markets, broad engagement becomes more important. Even when they compete to tell familiar stories, such as those of the American Indian Wars, this type of design can still prove challenging. For over 20 years museums have continued to seek means for broad audience engagement in physical exhibitions, but little critical inquiry has occurred regarding neither online exhibitions nor the American Indian Wars. To fill this niche, this study offers a new method of designing, critiquing, and re-designing the narratives used currently in online museum exhibitions of the American Indian Wars. By advocating a means of argument built in communication theory that is capable of providing analytical tools for developmental work of online exhibitions, this study seeks to expand the disciplinary capacity of Museum Science. By applying Altman’s Theory of Narrative to three specifically chosen case studies this study produced two results. One that the current works of exhibition designed online by history museums seems to offer limited character constructions to the audience thereby limiting user choice and ultimately audience engagement. Secondly, that the narratives currently produced also limit engagement potential by returning a singular message from the museum as an authority figure. These results demonstrate how the tool advocated here, a combination of two aspects of communication theory can better inform the design of online museum exhibitions and by extension the exhibitions of the American Indian Wars as they occur online. The recognition that narratives are currently formed in ways that limit the engagement of a digital audience produces the ability to begin to break down these forms and re-design them focusing on expanded characters and narratives built to foster discussion and inquiry by the audience.Item Environmental Integrity : interpreting historic indoor conditions(2013-05) Frederick-Rothwell, Betsy; Holleran, MichaelIncreasing concern with the amount of energy required to maintain static indoor conditions in hot-humid climates is encouraging designers to again contemplate passive methods of indoor environmental control. Yet prevailing cultural perceptions of acceptable comfort levels make building occupants wary of any suggestions to reduce the mechanical control of building interiors. The rapid deployment of air-conditioning in the building sector over the past fifty years and its consequent pervasiveness nearly guarantees that most Americans have had little conscious experience with non-conditioned space. This thesis considers the potential for historic sites in Texas to interpret pre-air-conditioned indoor environmental conditions and to demonstrate historical approaches to climate mitigation. Within the context of preservation practice and theory, this study examines the historical context for these sites, particularly the professional and cultural constraints on architectural design in the nineteenth-century American South and architects’ strategies for managing environmental conditions within the limits of prevailing stylistic modes. Three case study sites are explored as potential venues for discovery and interpretation of traditional or transitional methods of cooling and ventilation: Historic Texas (Goliad and Comal county) courthouses, Galveston Historical Foundation’s Gresham House (Bishop’s Palace), and the University of Texas at Austin’s Battle Hall. Issues of historical interpretation are discussed and strategies that could be deployed in an indoor-climate interpretive program are proposed. With the rest of the world poised to follow America’s lead into a fully air-conditioned existence, it is critical to understand the modes and methods building designers used in the past in order to imagine alternate futures. Historic buildings and sites are well positioned to be the interpreters of those conditions and activities that made life in a hot-humid climate manageable. However, the ways in which preservationists value and evaluate historic buildings may have to change in order to participate meaningfully in this discussion.Item Historic preservation education initiatives at historic sites(2014-05) Hereford, Margaret F.; Holleran, MichaelWhile historic sites have been used and operated as educational tools in the form of museums and public spaces since the emergence of the field of preservation, educational outreach frequently fails to include preservation concepts within these efforts. This thesis attempts to answer the question of “Why is preservation education lacking or absent at historic sites, and how can it be an integral part of a historic site’s programming, presentation, and interpretation?” To investigate this question, scholarly research was combined with first hand experiences of sites and interviews with stewarding organization staff members. Through this investigation, emerged a contextualization of historic sites within the fields of preservation and museum studies, a relation of the current state of preservation education to the opportunities available by means of physical sites, and a connection of preservation concepts to museum education theory. Multiple means of educational implementation and execution were explored, as were target audiences and organizational management structure. The result is a collection of examples in practice, explanations of missed opportunities, and recommendation for effective implementation. Collectively, these results reinforce the importance of using physical sites available to the public for educational purposes not limited to historic significance, but including preservation in all facets, as a means of introducing the field along with its impact and importance to the general public as a means of generating an interest that will be redirected into their communities.Item Looking beyond the visual: considering multi-sensory experience and education with video art in installation(2010-05) Spont, Marya Helen; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda M.This study problematizes how the history, theory, and practice of art education (as documented) have predominantly focused on visually-based artworks and on visual aspects of other, multi-sensory artworks. I posit that existing pedagogical approaches become particularly limiting when addressing contemporary artworks that engage multiple senses and question how art educators might adapt such paradigms to consider individual learners’ multi-sensory experiences—particularly, aural, bodily, and spatial, as well as visual, experiences—as they operate in relation to video art in installation. To offer a point of reference for subsequent discussion, I narrate and interpret my own multi-sensory experience of Krzysztof Wodiczko’s "...OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project" (2009), and then situate both visual and non-visual aspects of my experience in relation to various possible experiences of time, still and changing images, sound, the static or mobile body, other bodies, and space. By synthesizing and building upon recent scholarly literature pertaining to interpretation, multi-sensory and bodily experience, and learner-centered pedagogy, I consider theoretical and practical implications for teaching and learning with video art in installation, and recommend art educators’ mediation through creating communities of questioning, listening, and “speaking with,” in addition to looking. Throughout this study, I argue that encouraging learners to interpret their individual bodily and sensory experiences of artworks should be considered an essential part of the process of making meaning of those artworks in art education environments and, more importantly, of the process of helping learners to become more critically aware of their own sensory experiences in the world.Item Museum visitors' self-efficacy and interest in contemporary art(2015-05) Wilson, Lauren Michelle; Schallert, Diane L.; Patall, Erika AContemporary art can pose a particular challenge for museum visitors to interpret, and psychological literature suggests that such challenge to self-efficacy may lower interest (Hong & Lin, 2013; Ryan & Deci, 2000; Schunk & Usher, 2008). This study sought to explore museum visitors’ interpretive strategies, feelings of self-efficacy, and interest. Factors including prior knowledge, interpretation support (e.g., labels), and challenge of artwork were also considered. Results discuss suggestions for museums when displaying works that may be perceived as challenging or unapproachable. Participants included visitors to the Blanton Museum of Art and students at the University of Texas at Austin who were pre-screened for prior knowledge of museums. Sessions occurred during the fall of 2014 and included completing questionnaires while viewing three works in the contemporary galleries. Students also participated in focus groups. Both quantitative and qualitative results confirmed predictions that interpretive self-efficacy and interest are related. Provision of labels did not show significant difference for self-efficacy or interest, but high prior knowledge of art did show increased levels of self-efficacy. A search for meaning and aesthetic observation and preference typically drove participant interpretations; most were highly personal. With low self-efficacy, participants struggled to interpret works and even considered pieces arbitrary. However, they enjoyed being challenged to interpret the work on their own before viewing the label. Participants responded particularly well to the idea of using interactive interpretive devices as a means of building understanding for works to which they may not otherwise be drawn. Overwhelmingly, low-prior-knowledge infrequent visitors wanted clear explanations of the artist's motive for creating the work and wanted the ability to visualize or even mimic the artistic process for creating each piece. Museums striving to increase interest in contemporary art for visitors should prioritize building self-efficacy through supportive interpretive strategies.Item Museums and the conservation and interpretation of rock art(2010-12) Mueller, Stephanie M.; Ladkin, Nicola; Dean, David K.; Houk, Brett A.Rock art is a valuable resource whose long term preservation is threatened by conservation and interpretation challenges. This thesis investigates these issues facing conservation and interpretation of rock art in the Lower Pecos River region of Texas and examines whether establishing a regional museum could assist in addressing them. Seven issues that affect conservation of rock art are identified: access and landownership; in situ conservation; natural agents of deterioration; human agents of deterioration; recording techniques; museum preservation and the history of collecting; and exhibits, interpretation, and the nature of scholarly investigation. Interpretation methods that can affect public perceptions of the value of rock art are also identified. Research suggests a museum could serve as an archive of information on rock art, be a center for training researchers, managers, rangers, and guides, and thus assist in conservation and interpretation of rock art.Item Numerical simulation and interpretation of sonic measurements in vertical and highly deviated wells(2016-05) Maalouf, Elsa; Torres-Verdín, Carlos; Daigle, HughBorehole sonic measurements are widely used to estimate formation elastic properties and to construct synthetic seismograms. However, presence of noise compromises the accuracy of sonic logs. Sonic logs are prone to errors originating from near wellbore damage or mud-filtrate invasion. Moreover, sonic logs are calculated from the numerical processing of waveforms over a wide range of receivers. Numerical processing induces errors in the sonic slowness because the slowness value is averaged over the length of the receiver array. I apply a fast modeling method using spatial sensitivity functions to calculate sonic logs. First, I define the spatial sensitivity function for the compressional and flexural modes. Then, I apply the fast modeling in a joint inversion of shear and compressional slowness logs to mitigate noise contaminating sonic logs. Joint inversion is performed in vertical and slightly-dipping wells, to estimate layer-by-layer formation elastic and mechanical properties for isotropic and anisotropic formations. Finally, I introduce a fast modeling procedure for compressional and flexural modes in deviated and horizontal wells. Results of the fast modeling are compared to finite-difference numerical simulations. The fast modeling of sonic borehole measurements in deviated wells can be applied in a joint inversion to estimate formation elastic and geometrical properties.Item Style and interpretation in the seven keyboard toccatas of J.S. Bach, BWV 910-916(2012-12) Mace, Abigail; Olivieri, Guido, 1966-; Garrett, Nancy; Allen, Gregory; Ayrton, Patrick; Buhler, James; Mollenauer, Robert; Nel, AntonThe keyboard toccatas of J. S. Bach, BWV 910-916, present a formidable challenge of interpretation to the modern-day performer. These works contain some of the most unusual compositional techniques to be found in Bach’s output due to their use of an improvisatory, virtuosic style inherited from the seventeenth century. While pianists of today are trained to perform with perfect fidelity to the score, the treatises from the time of Bach point to a rhythmically free approach to the improvisatory features of these toccatas. The goal of this treatise is to explore how the historical tradition from which Bach’s toccatas emerged influenced their stylistic characteristics with the purpose of applying this information to create an informed performance by today’s interpreters. In this effort, this treatise focuses on several broad categories in the process of understanding the inspiration and, therefore, the interpretation of these works. These categories include the genesis of the toccata as a genre, the compositional techniques associated with the toccata, Bach's personal contribution to the genre, and the interpretation of Bach's toccatas specifically.Item Web design and the interpretation of place : a case study in Austin, TX(2010-12) Conrad, Joshua Morris; Holleran, Michael; Udovicki-Selb, DaniloThis thesis discusses and proposes a design for a new kind of web-based interface for the display of historical interpretation. The design, specifically for the interpretation of the now-demolished Texas Confederate Home for Men in Austin, Texas, uses this site as a case study to explore how original historical research can combine with and inform the design of a hypothetical open and dynamic on-line database of historic properties. The first half discusses the history of the Home's development, highlighting its significance as a relic of 19th century reform movements and social utopianism, while exploring how this relates to its physical isolation from the surrounding urban context. The second half discusses the scope of web-based historical interpretation and some conclusions about the limitations of current solutions. This chapter then discusses and proposes a series of web-based interactive diagrams illustrating the significance of the site's history identified in the previous chapter. The design attempts to bridge two competing desires in historical interpretation: the desire for rigorous yet static curated interpretation and the desire for an open non-curated data management system.