Promethea is a comic book series created by Alan Moore, J. H. Williams III and Mick Gray, published by America's Best Comics/WildStorm.

It tells the story of Sophie Bangs, a college student from an alternate futuristic New York City in 1999, who embodies the powerful entity known as Promethea whose task it is to bring the Apocalypse.

Originally published as 32 issues from 1999 to 2005, the series has been re-published into five graphic novels and one hard-back issue. Moore weaves in elements of magic and mysticism along with superhero mythology and action, spirituality and the afterlife (in particular the Tree of Life) and science-fiction. Promethea includes wide-ranging experimentation with visual styles and art.

Plot summary
In the 5th century AD, a Christian mob threatens the home of a magician in Hellenistic Egypt. He tells his daughter Promethea to flee into the desert, hoping the gods of the ancient world will preserve her. The story shifts to New York City in the late 20th century. Sophie Bangs is hoping to interview a woman named Barbara Shelley for a college paper on "Promethea", a character who seems to recur in literature and pop culture through the centuries. Shelley is hostile to her and warns: "You don't wanna go looking for folklore. And you especially don't want folklore to come looking for you". After departing, Sophie is tracked and attacked by a creature known as a Smee. Just as things look bleakest for Sophie, she is rescued by Barbara, who has mystical powers and is now dressed as Promethea. She informs Sophie that the only reason she would be attacked is if someone suspects she will become the next vessel for Promethea (Barbara is the current). It turns out that Promethea is called to the world when someone uses their imagination to make her real. As they hide from the pursuing Smee, the weakened and fatally injured Barbara instructs Sophie to write a poem about Promethea hoping Sophie is indeed the successor and the creative expression is a way to get Sophie in the correct state of mind to allow herself to become Promethea. Barbara's idea works and from that night Sophie, having defeated the Smee, becomes the next Promethea.

The story continues with Sophie/Promethea learning about Promethea and the previous individuals who have in the past been the vessels for Promethea. In the days that follow, the hospital where Barbara lies is attacked by demons, an act that leads to Barbara's death. This motivates Sophie to learn more about magic, mysticism and the Tree of Life and its spheres in order to find Barbara and help her seek Steve Shelly, Barbara's dead husband. Throughout their climb up the spheres of Tree of Life Sophie/Promethea and Barbara encounter difficulties such as imprisonment by the demon Asmodeus, as well as meeting figures such as Sophie's father Juan (who died when she was little), Barbara's guardian angel Boo-Boo and Promethea's father, who she has not seen since his murder in 411 A.D. Eventually Barbara and Steve find each other and are re-incarnated as twins (who Sophie ends up looking after at the end of the book). Having been gone a whole summer, Sophie is unaware the FBI has been tracking Promethea, and  want to take her into custody for the events Promethea has caused throughout the years. Moments before the FBI arrives, Sophie's mother instructs her to run away (just as Promethea's father had centuries earlier).

Three years pass and Sophie, having abandoned her duties as Promethea, hides in Millennium City under the alias Joey Estrada with new boyfriend Carl. However, after being found by the FBI and Tom Strong, Sophie reluctantly becomes Promethea and in turn carries out one final task; bringing about the end of the world.

References, criticisms, and developments
The series is, by Moore's own admission, didactic: "There are 1000 comic books on the shelves that don't contain a philosophy lecture and one that does. Isn't there room for that one?" As suggested by the title Promethea, which implies the feminine version of the mythological Prometheus, the title also participates in the subgenre of feminism in superhero comics. In making his lead character an aspiring poet whose words conjure the malleable form of a literary goddess—as well as the non-linear narratives and references to literary theory and alternative philosophies—Moore's thematics are closely aligned with the countercultural theory and politics of écriture féminine.

Subjects dealt with in this series include the occult, the tarot and Hermetic Qabalah. The comic is laden with mythological mystical symbolism, drawing in many religious and cultural references. Real people who appear in Promethea include Aleister Crowley, John Dee, Austin Osman Spare, and John Kendrick Bangs (who in the comic is distantly related to Sophie Bangs).

In January 2018, DC Comics, the owner of the America's Best Comics / WildStorm imprint, introduced Promethea into its mainstream continuity by way of the comic Justice League of America #24. The controversial storyline involved Promethea assisting various superheroes in fighting a villain called the Queen of Fables. Artist J. H. Williams III was reported as having no prior knowledge of the introduction of the character into DC Comics' broader continuity, and is quoted as saying: "I can't in good conscience condone this happening in any form at all".

Main characters

Promethea
Promethea is a young girl whose father is killed by a Christian mob in Alexandria in 411 AD. After escaping the mob, alone in the desert she is taken in hand by the god Thoth-Hermes, who tells her that if she goes with him/them into the Immateria, a plane of existence home to the imagination, she will no longer be just a little girl but a story living eternally. "Promethea" thereafter manifests through a series of individuals or vessels who have channeled her energy through the power of imagination.

Since the incident with the little girl in Alexandria, there have been eight known Promethea vessels. Six are characters in the story, the other two are told as two individuals, one Christian and one Muslim, who live during the Crusades and fight each other. As there should only ever be one active Promethea at any one moment in history, the fight causes Promethea great pain, something that is repeated when Stacia/Grace fights Sophie/Promethea. It could be argued that there is a ninth Promethea vessel – Stacia Vanderveer. However, Stacia is only a vessel for Grace Brannagh, a dead woman who once herself was Promethea and not the original little girl.

Sophie Bangs/Joey Estrada
The protagonist of the series, Sophie becomes Promethea after tracing the character's history in literature for a college paper. Her personality as Sophie is initially somewhat timid; by the end of the book she becomes an adept magician and confident young woman. She is the most powerful Promethea to date, and the only one not to have been killed during her time as Promethea. She changes her name to Joey after running away to Millennium City to escape the FBI and her duties as Promethea.

Barbara Shelley/Boo-Boo Ramirez
The wife of comic book writer Steven Shelley, Barbara became Promethea when her husband began projecting Barbara's characteristics onto the Promethea character in his comics. During her passage in the afterlife, Barbara meets her guardian angel Boo-Boo (Barbara's old nickname) who is in fact the younger, beautiful and independent young woman she used to be. By the time she finds her husband, she and Boo-Boo become one person.

Stacia Vanderveer
Sophie's best friend, Stacia is an extremely cynical and sarcastic college student.  During an attack at the hospital she was visiting Sophie in, Sophie uses Stacia as a vessel for Grace Brannagh to help the fight. While Sophie journeyed to find Barbara in the afterlife, Stacia/Grace were re-instated to temporarily serve as acting Promethea, leading Stacia and Grace to fall in love. After Sophie's return, Stacia and Grace refused to relinquish the Promethea title, but were forced to by a court hearing in the Immateria. After the Apocalypse, Stacia and former FBI Agent Ball become lovers, while Stacia still has sexual liaisons with Grace in the Immateria.

Grace Brannagh
An illustrator who created a series of covers for pulp magazine fantasy stories about Promethea, which were written by several writers under the pseudonym "Marto Neptura". Brannagh was the most proficient fighter of all the Prometheas. She held the Promethea mantle from 1920 to 1939. In a text article in Promethea #1, Brannagh's style is compared to that of Weird Tales illustrator Margaret Brundage.

Jack Faust
Jack Faust is a magician who first approaches Sophie in order to confuse her during her first days as Promethea. Jack is first seen as a handsome young man, but is actually revealed to be older, balding and overweight. Jack promises to teach Sophie magic if she (in her Promethea form) agrees to have sex with him. At first Sophie declines, but later agrees, knowing this knowledge will help her travel in the afterlife and help Barbara.

Recurring characters

William "Bill" Woolcott
The only man to assume the role of Promethea, Bill Woolcott was a gay comic artist who became Promethea by drawing her. He was the longest-lasting Promethea, from 1939 to 1969, and acted as a "science-hero" in the ABC universe with Tom Strong during that period. Bill/Promethea most resembles a 1960s version of Wonder Woman. Bill was shot in the head by Promethea's lover, FBI Agent Dennis Drucker, who reacted violently when he discovered that his lover was (in a manner of speaking) transgender. Drucker spent several decades in an insane asylum tortured by guilt for having killed Promethea, while Bill/Promethea spent similar time in the Immateria blaming herself for not having told him the truth. The two are reunited during the Apocalypse.

Anna
The poet Charlton Sennet, in the 1770s, projected Promethea's likeness onto his housemaid Anna, transforming her into his dream lover. This Promethea bore him a child, but the baby evaporated on birth, since in a sense it was only "half-real", an amalgamation of the physical nature of Charlton Sennet and the metaphysical nature of Promethea. Anna died in childbirth, leaving Charlton alone (his wife deserted him after finding him in bed with Anna/Promethea).

Margaret Taylor Case
The writer of a William Randolph Hearst-syndicated comic strip titled Little Margie in Misty Magic Land, Case wrote Promethea into her comic book as a helpful spirit to the titular young adventurer, and ended up personifying Promethea to help soldiers on the battlefield from 1900 to 1920, in a manner similar to the legendary Angels of Mons. Little Margie also dwells in the Immateria alongside Case and the other past Prometheas, where she is regarded as little more than a pest who interrupts "serious" conversation with her childlike observations, styled after the remarks of the character Nemo in the early 20th-century newspaper strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. Margaret committed suicide during her tenure as Promethea.

Five Swell Guys

The Five Swell Guys are a team of "science-heroes", and the only such team in New York City. There is similarity between them and The Fantastic Four, with their floating platform and their specialized members. The team meet Sophie Bangs in the first issue, and then meet Promethea in the third issue, after one is badly hurt.

Weeping Gorilla Comix

The "Weeping Gorilla Comix" is a series of one-panel comics featuring a weeping gorilla, with a thought bubble pronouncing some thoughtful phrase, usually cynical and self-pitying in nature: "Why do good things happen to bad people?", "Who remaindered the book of Love?", "She gets the kids and the house. I get the car", etc. The whole concept is an industry joke about the supposed tendency for comics to get increased sales from a picture of a gorilla, a weeping character, or the color purple on the cover. Occasionally Moore shows snippets of the gorilla's foil, the Chucklin' Duck, who is happy-go-lucky and naively optimistic, with smug saying such as "Heh heh! I got out of internet trading just in time!". Both the Weeping Gorilla and Chucklin' Duck motifs were used in the Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset series by Rick Veitch, and a Weeping Gorilla Comix panel makes a cameo appearance in the story "King Solomon Pines" in Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #5 (scripted by Leah Moore and illustrated by Sergio Aragones). The Tesla Strong miniseries included, amongst various versions of Solomon, one who resembled the Weeping Gorilla.

Collected editions
The trade paperbacks for Promethea were first released in hardcover:
 Promethea Book 1, issues #1-6
 hardcover:
 paperback:
 Promethea Book 2, issues #7-12
 hardcover:
 paperback:
 Promethea Book 3, issues #13-18
 hardcover:
 paperback:
 Promethea Book 4, issues #19-25
 hardcover:
 paperback:
 Promethea Book 5, issues #26-32
 hardcover:
 paperback:

An Absolute Edition was released from 2009 to 2011:
 Absolute Promethea Book 1, issues #1–12, October 2009
 hardcover:
 Absolute Promethea Book 2, issues #13–23, October 2010
 hardcover:
 Absolute Promethea Book 3, issues #24–32, December 2011
 hardcover:

A 20th anniversary Deluxe Edition was released from 2019 to 2020:
 Promethea: The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Book One, issues #1–12, March 12, 2019
 hardcover:
 Promethea: The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Book Two, issues #13–23, March 31, 2019
 hardcover:
 Promethea: The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Book Three, issues #24–32, December 22, 2020
 hardcover:

Notes

References

External links

 Magic Comic Ride, Douglas Wolk, Salon.com, July 1, 2005. Review of the entire series.
 On Comics: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Red: A Haida Manga (2009) and Alan Moore & JH Williams III, Promethea #32 (2005)", Shawn Gilmore, Vault of Culture, August 26, 2019. Explanation of the pull-out posters in Promethea #32.

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Promethea


Aruna Roy (née Jayaram, born 6 June 1946) is an Indian social activist, professor, union organiser and former civil servant. She is the president of the National Federation of Indian Women and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan.

Early life and education
Aruna was born on 6 June 1946, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (Chennai was known as Madras at the time and was a part of the Madras Presidency in British India), to parents Hema and E. D. Jayaram, a family of Tamil Brahmins. The family in which Aruna grew up was unconventional for their times and had a history of public service encompassing several generations. They rejected orthodox beliefs about caste and religion, and were known for a commitment to egalitarian principles.

All her grandparents were highly educated and included an engineer, a magistrate and a lawyer. The women in her family in particular served as role models for her. Her maternal grandmother was an educated woman and was deeply involved in volunteer social work among impoverished communities. She was born to an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family and had insisted on working with leprosy patients. Her maternal grandfather was an engineer, who was also involved in social work and wrote textbooks which he printed and distributed at his own cost to make them affordable for poorer children. Aruna's mother, Hema was sent to first class schools, where she had excelled in physics, mathematics, classical Sanskrit and sports. She was also well versed in the literature of several languages and participated in musical performances with the veena. The marriage between Hema and Jayaram defied norms as Hema had waited till she was 25 to get married and Jayaram belonged to a different sub-caste. Jayaram's family too had a history of social and political activism. He was sent to Shantiniketan and later became a lawyer by profession. He participated in the Indian independence movement, became a civil servant after independence and eventually retired as the Legal Adviser for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Jayaram also worked as a film and music critic and published reviews in various newspapers.

Aruna was the eldest of four siblings and had two sisters and a brother. The children were brought up to be multilingual and the family spoke three languages at home, namely Tamil, English and Hindi. She and her siblings were encouraged to be critical thinkers, discouraged from harboring any form of prejudice around ethnicity, caste or class and taught to respect people regardless of their social standing. Aruna was enrolled for two years at the Kalakshetra academy in Adyar, Chennai to train in Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music. She was also educated at a convent school and learned French on the insistence of her parents. She was then sent to the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry while her family moved to New Delhi. After a year at the ashram (hermitage), she expressed unhappiness with her situation so her family brought her to New Delhi where she completed the rest of her education. She attended the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan till the age of 16, when she applied for and successfully enrolled at the Indraprastha College for Women. Her admission was unexpected for the college faculty as she qualified at an age earlier than usual. Aruna majored in English Literature and then immediately went for a master's degree in 1965. She completed her post-graduation at the University of Delhi.

Following her education, she did not want to become a homemaker like most women during that time, which she considered to be a "limbo of passivity" but most fields were male dominated and her options were limited to journalism and teaching. For a short period of time, she became a professor of English Literature at her alma mater. In 1967, at the age of 21, she gave the difficult examinations for the Indian Administrative Service, which at the time had a selection rate of less than 0.1% and a marginal number of successful women candidates. Aruna was able to get selected on her first attempt at the examinations and was one of only 10 women to qualify in that year. She was influenced by feminism and considered joining the male dominated civil services in her father's footsteps to be a feminist choice. Mahatma Gandhi also had a significant influence on her family and their ethics, and she incorporated his philosophy in her way of thinking along with the philosophy of M. N. Roy. She was sent to the National Academy of Administration for a year's course followed by a year of supervised training called probation. Her batch had 100 successful candidates and the course included an intensive study of economics, law, languages and basic administration. It also included horse riding and guidelines on courtesies and etiquette from the British period. She along with other students in her batch had rebelled against various aspects of the curriculum and were able to introduce some reforms which were implemented for the batch after theirs.

Career and activism

Civil services (1968–1974)
Aruna was a part of the Union Territories cadre but was sent to Tamil Nadu for her probationary period as she knew the Tamil language. Her first assignment was that of an assistant to the supervising administrator (known as District Collector) of Tiruchi district. She opted for and was granted a transfer to Vellore district (at the time known as North Arcot) after her supervisor in Tiruchi refused to mentor her. T. V. Venkataram was the Collector in Vellore and he made a lasting impact on Aruna and others assigned as assistants to him. They were provided with independent charges under supervision which was unconventional in the system. Aruna married a batch mate of hers from University of Delhi, Sanjit Roy in 1970. He belonged to a Bengali family and had involved himself in social work since his time in college. She changed her name to Aruna Roy (née Jayaram) after marriage. By the time of her marriage, Roy was a Sub-Collector in the Union Territory of Pondicherry and after marriage, she was granted a transfer to the Union Territory of Delhi as she had married a person who lived in that region.

Roy's first assignment in Delhi was that of a Sub-Divisional Magistrate. She oversaw six police jurisdictions and besides her regular duties, had to manage student protests and election duty. Over the following period, she became the Deputy Secretary for finance and in 1973, was promoted to the position of Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. She was disillusioned with the civil services by this time. Aruna had joined the services as she saw it as a means of working for social justice within a constitutional framework, with the conviction that the provisions of the Indian Constitution, if implemented, was the correct standards for providing decent and equitable treatment to citizens. She was aware before joining that there was corruption in the system but thought that it was possible to enact reform from within. In contrast, after around 7 years within the system, she came to see the organisation as a hidebound institution where feudal and colonial values were nurtured. According to her, while it was possible for honest officials to not engage in collusion, the only recourse they had at most times was silence and inaction.

She states that corruption didn't exist just in the form of graft but also in decision making and identified three primary problems with the organisation; one that of inability of  to engage in ethical disagreement over a policy or decision that would "lead to people's lives being damaged", another being the negative consequences of addressing malpractice by politicians or even others in the bureaucracy and the third being the requirement to carry out orders regardless of any negative impact it might have. She describes the institution to have developed an elitist approach, with those granted promotions for liaisons with powerful politicians and being of little help to those most in need such as the poor. Concluding that the institution was not moving in the right direction and that it wasn't possible to bring change from within, as hierarchy suppressed all protestations and contradictions, she decided to eventually leave the civil services. Through the IAS, Aruna was however able to gain an understanding of the workings of the State and develop connections among a network of educated and influential people whom she considered to be honest officers.

Barefoot College (1974–1983)
Roy had consulted with her family and friends before resigning from the IAS but most of them discouraged her from doing so. In 1974, she took a six-month leave to join her husband at the Social Work Research Centre (commonly known as the Barefoot College) and witnessing a relation of equality between her husband and the people there, compared to the deferential treatment she had received as a bureaucrat. Later in the same year, she submitted her resignation from the civil service after waiting for her brother to finish college as she was a major contributor to the income of her parents' household. Aged 28, she moved to the village of Tilonia where her husband was working. Tilonia was a small village located in Rajasthan, 100 km away from the capital of Jaipur, where her husband had established the Barefoot College in 1972 for social and economic development of the village. He had recruited many individuals from top tier educational institutions and it would later come to be known as one of India's most professional development organisations.

In Tilonia, there was a significant shift in lifestyle and outlook for Roy. There were no pipelines for water services and finding drinking water was a hazard. The village did not have electricity or access to any public transportation or banking services, she had to walk for miles to reach the location. Roy's upbringing like, much of India's urban upper middle class, had taken place entirely in urban areas and in near complete ignorance of rural life. She had come into contact with villagers during her time in the civil services but due to her position as an administrative officer, there were barriers in communication and her understanding of socioeconomic realities in the villages. She with her husband moved into an accommodation which hosted seventeen other employees of the Barefoot College, including three graduates of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and three geologists from the Indian Institute of Technology. The employees shared household and organisational duties among themselves which included everything from cooking to setting up facilities for children's education and income-generating programs for villagers. Over the course of the years, Barefoot College would various technologies including solar power in a number of villages and educate rural residents on the concept and operation of these sophisticated systems.

Initially, Roy experienced resistance in finding acceptance in the village. Her attempts at bringing new ideas about childbearing and schooling were dismissed by the women there. Though the attitude was welcomed by her as she was no longer being treated as an authority but rather as an equal. According to her, it is essential for deprived people to be the agents of their own change and that her job was to serve as a catalyst rather than a leader. In addition, there was hostility from the more prosperous section of villagers, due to her affinity towards the weavers and leather workers, who belonged to dalit castes. Eventually, an old woman named Dhani Bhua helped her in getting adjusted with village life. Once her presence as was accepted, she came to frequently socialise with the women there and became sought after for advice on issues such as the use of birth control. Roy herself developed a personal preference for an ascetic lifestyle reinforced by a belief in the Gandhian ideal that one must change oneself to bring change. During her time in Tilonia, she experienced a change in perspective. Roy started regarding facets such as illiteracy and lack of education as a skill disadvantage rather than that of ability or intelligence, and recognised that they had a deep knowledge in their field of occupation that others did not possess including those which are considered unskilled labour. Roy describes Tilonia to have been her real alma mater and the villagers to be better teachers than those in Delhi and at the IAS. According to her, the IAS training was inadequate for understanding the complexities of socioeconomic change that were occurring in the rural areas, and that the villages represented neither the romantic notions of a rural life nor the simplistic view of a sexist caste-ridden conservative society, both common stereotypes among the urban well-to-do population.

The Barefoot College operated as an apolitical service aimed at economic self sufficiency and acted as an alternative for the unavailable government services. The organisation was funded by a number of international and national agencies such as the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Oxfam, as well as the governments of Rajasthan and India. It developed a parallel bureaucracy constrained by profit margins and grant specifications. Their reach was limited and Roy eventually started questioning whether they were being effective in enacting any significant change and promoting grassroots empowerment. Though the organisation would sometimes encourage legal action, it was averse of any mass mobilisation confronting the government. In 1981, a revenue collector requested Roy to help end a labor strike in the neighbouring village of Harmara. Led by a dalit women named Naurti Bai, the strike had gathered 500 minimum wage workers who refused to return to work or accept any payment until their full wages including pending dues were paid. She convinced the strikers to end their protest and in the process befriended Naurti, from whom she came to learn about the effectiveness of using information in mobilising people. The Barefoot College initiated the Sanjit Roy vs. the Government of Rajasthan case over the non-payment of minimum wages, while Roy attempted to raise the issue of reforming the organisation into one that could support collective action. Several meetings were held over the following period that led to disagreements among the members and no breakthroughs were achieved. In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the workers in the minimum wage case, in what was considered a landmark judgement and Roy decided to leave the Barefoot College in the same year, in search of a different platform for grassroots empowerment in rural India.

Interceding years (1983–1990)
Between 1983 and 1987, Roy moved around working with various tribal and women's group in Rajasthan and neighbouring states, looking to encourage collective action. She remained associated with the Barefoot College and would return to Tilonia to help out with their work from time to time. In 1985, she was invited to attend the international women's conference in Nairobi, Kenya but she did not attend it and instead organised a mahila mela (women's festival) in Rajasthan to act as its counterpart, with the view of starting a forum for rural women as the international women's movement was largely centered on middle class urban women. The mela was organised with the help of the Barefoot College, Seva Mandir and the Institute of Development Studies. It was the first women's rights congregation in India which focused on poor rural women and saw the attendance of thousands from all across the country. The festival featured games, competitions, arts and crafts, workshops and socio-political discussions, and concluded with a prabhat pheri (morning invocation walk), a protest demonstration in the nearby town of Kishangarh against the rape of an 11-year-old child. The mela was the first instance of a public discussion on violence against women in that area and is described to have marked a shift in attitude where the onus for shame was laid on the perpetrators rather than the victims.

In the summer of 1987, Roy accompanied by like-minded associates from the Barefoot College, moved to the village of Devdungri, 180 km away from Tilonia, with the intention of building a new organisation. Devdungri was chosen as their home base, as one of them, Shankar Singh had a relative who owned an unoccupied house in the village and was willing to grant it to them. Roy, another activist Nikhil Dey, Singh and his wife and children were the first to move into the house. It was a two roomed hut made of mud and stone hut and was in disrepair for years. The group expanded the house, building a living room, a kitchen and an additional room using traditional methods that they had learned from labourers back at the Barefoot College. Roy had used her connections to take a grant of ₹30,000 from the Ministry of Human Resource Development for studying the participation rates of the rural poor in the government's poverty alleviation programs. The grant became the starting budget for the organisation and each of them received a government assigned minimum wage of ₹14 a day, which formed the household budget. Devdungri was located in a drought prone and environmentally degraded region, and the living conditions of the occupants were not much better than those of the farmers and labourers that resided in it, which made them adopt a Mahatma Gandhi-inspired minimalist ascetic life.

For Roy, the move to Devdungri was a more significant shift in terms of perspective than the one from the civil services to Tilonia; it involved an effort to create an organisation capable of collective action that would operate on a model of citizens' participation rather than through a bureaucracy. The group intended to first integrate themselves in the village and only then, if possible, establish a platform with the initiative of the villagers. Of all the members, Roy found it the hardest to gain acceptance and trust in Devdungri. In contrast to Singh, whose relatives and background was known in the village and who was soon seen as one of them, she had the image of an outsider and was seen with some suspicion. Though Roy was well versed in the local dialect and the norms of village life from her previous experiences in Tilonia, she had gossip floating around related to her having been a civil servant who had chosen to live in meagre circumstances among them, which the villagers were reluctant to believe. She states that transparency and honesty were crucial for her in gaining their trust. In particular, she had to work hard among the women in an attempt to get them out of the mindset that they had to play a secondary role. She shared in with them in their sorrows and grievances, helped and supported them through personal crises and eventually engaged them in protest action, starting with issues they cared about the most, such as violence against women. Roy however states that it wasn't as difficult as one would expect to mobilise them as they were working and present in public life, and did not have to be brought out of their homes into the public sphere.

In 1988, the three activists, Roy, Dey and Singh mobilised a campaign in the neighbouring village of Sohangarh against a powerful landlord. The landlord had retained 25 hectares of land that was granted to the village for community use in contravention of land ceiling laws. He demanded payment from the villagers which they were no longer willing to accept. Over the course of the next two years, the landlord tried to force the villagers into compliance with intimidation and violence. In the end, the activists acquired a ruling in favor of the village from the Udaipur district magistrate who forced the landlord to vacate. They then helped set up a village committee to determine land use; the committee decided that the land would be turned into a forested conservation area which the villagers could for firewood and cattle grazing, while the activists helped secure a grant from the Wastelands Department for the conversion of the land. The area would go on to be known as a model for forest and water conservation in Rajasthan. The success established the credibility of the trio and acted as a demonstration of the effectiveness of collective action that they had been trying to encourage in the area.

The team soon became sought for another issue; people from the area including Devdungri and several neighbouring villages were pooled to work on a famine relief project but weren't receiving their full wages due to corruption at the local level. The activists initially counseled the workers to carefully track all the work they did and keep a record of them, but even after an engineer confirmed the veracity of the records, the workers still did not receive they legally mandated. Once the first step did not work, the team organised a campaign of non-cooperation, in which the workers refused any payment unless their full wages were paid. The workers could not be sustain it for long as they needed daily wages and only two of them struck it out till the end. Instead they organised a protest around the magistrate's office in Rajsamand district. The protest received media attention and unnerved the local administration, a representative from the state government arrived at the district and assured them that wages would be paid. In the aftermath, the local officials reduced the wages by 20% and the workers took the case to court but only the two who had decided to not accept any payment won the case and were paid their dues. The results were unsatisfactory and the team which had gathered a core group of activists and villagers started contemplating new strategies. Through the spring of 1990, they held deliberations for several months on creating a new political advocacy organisation that could sustain large scale protests and demonstrations.

Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (1990–2004)

On 1 May 1990, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (; MKSS) was founded in a public gathering of approximately 1,000 people camped in tents outside the town of Bhim in Rajsamand district, Rajasthan. Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh were the three primary activists of the organisation and formed its core leadership. The foundation was the organisation was laid in 1987 when the three activists had first started organising the rural poor in the village of Devdungri. Formed to operate as a non-party political organisation that could mobilise collective action in order to secure the rights of the rural poor, it was structured as a non-bureaucratic and non-hierarchical organisation with no designated leader. It was not registered as a society or a trade union and had no formal constitution. It did not have any membership fees and raised funds solely through contributions from volunteers and supporters, maintaining a policy of not accepting donations from governments, corporations or any institutional funders. Membership relied on participation and developed into four layers.

The first layer was that of a core group of 15–20 full-time workers, followed by a second layer of 40 members who regularly participated in agitations and organisational activities. The two groups formed the primary decision-making body and relied on a consensus based model. They had a support base of around 6,000–8,000 people who formed the third layer with a more irregular rate of participation. In time, the organisation gathered an additional layer of supporters and sympathisers composed of civil society members, academics and even government officials. According to Aruna, the small size of the core group was important to prevent bureaucratisation, preserve its non-hierarchical internal democratic structure and its members' commitment to a set of ethics which she articulates as not engaging in corruption or discrimination and remaining pacifist.

People's hearings

Right to Information movement

The MKSS began by fighting for fair and equal wages for workers which shaped and evolved into a struggle for the enactment of India's Right to Information Act. Aruna Roy is a leader of the Right to Information movement in India through the MKSS and the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI), which was finally successful with the passage of the Right to Information Act in 2005.

Later career (2004–present)
Aruna Roy has been at the forefront of a number of campaigns for the rights of the poor and the marginalised. These have included, most prominently, the Right to Information, the Right to Work (the NREGA), and the Right to Food. More recently, she has been involved with the campaign for universal, non-contributory pension for unorganised sector workers as a member of the Pension Parishad and the NCPRI for the passage and enactment of the Whistleblower Protection Law and Grievance Redress Act.

She served as a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) until 2006 when she resigned. She was also appointed the 2016 professor of practice in global governance at McGill University, in Montreal.

In 2018, along with the MKSS collective, Roy published a book chronicling the history of the Right to Information movement in India titled The RTI Story: Power to the People.

Honours and awards
With the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Aruna Roy was awarded the Times Fellowships Award for 1991 for her work for rural workers rights to social justice and creative development. In 2000, she received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership. In 2010 she received the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academia and Management. In 2011, she was named as one of the hundred most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In September 2017 the Times of India listed Roy as one of the 11 Human Rights Activists Whose Life Mission Is To Provide Others with a Dignified Life.

Selected works

Academic

Non-fiction

Miscellaneous

References

Notes

Citations

Further reading
Menon, Ritu (2002). Women Who Dared. National Book Trust, India. .

External links

 The idea of India by Aruna Roy – Mint
 The Rediff Interview/ Aruna Roy – Rediff.com

Indian women activists
Activists from Tamil Nadu
Freedom of information activists
Indraprastha College for Women alumni
Delhi University alumni
Ramon Magsaysay Award winners
1946 births
Living people
People from Chennai
Members of National Advisory Council, India
Women in Tamil Nadu politics
20th-century Indian educators
20th-century Indian women educators
Educators from Tamil Nadu
Indian Administrative Service officers
Women educators from Tamil Nadu
Social workers from Tamil Nadu
Communist Party of India politicians from Tamil Nadu
Female politicians of the Communist Party of India

Aruna Roy


Leigh College was from 1915  until 1974 a Methodist Theological College located at 416-420 Liverpool Road, Strathfield South, New South Wales. It was the successor to Wesleyan Theological Institution. The site includes three significant historic properties: Brundah, a Victorian style house, Leigh College Hall, a neo-Georgian Revival style building and the E. Vickery Memorial Chapel.

History
Brundah, an Italianate style house, was built on the site in the mid-1880s for a wine merchant, Thomas Alt.  The house was home to the Alt family until 1911 and then was owned by Paul Lamarand. In 1915, the Methodist Church purchased the house and grounds and moved its theological students from Stanmore where they had shared the grounds of Newington College. The new college was named in honour of the Wesleyan missionary Samuel Leigh. In 1927, the foundation stone for a new building was laid by the Sir Dudley de Chair. The new Leigh College was opened in 1928 to a design by Byera Hadley. Hadley also designed a chapel that was built in honour of the Hon. Ebenezer Vickery MLC. The site became the home of the United Theological College, a part of the theology school at Charles Sturt University, in 1974 with the union of Leigh College (Methodist), Camden College (Congregational Union of Australia) and St. Andrews College (Presbyterian Church). The new Uniting Church college moved in 1987 and the land was sub-divided. The site became the home of Noor Al Houda Islamic College and is now the Australian International Academy.

Heritage listings
The Memorial Chapel and Leigh Hall are listed on the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) Register of Twentieth Century Buildings of Significance and with Brundah are classified by the National Trust of Australia (NSW). The College site, including front and rear grounds, is also contained in the National Trust's Strathfield Urban Conservation Area Precinct 3.

References

1915 establishments in Australia
Universities in New South Wales
Defunct universities and colleges in Australia
Educational institutions established in 1915
Education in Sydney
Education in New South Wales
Methodism in Australia
Methodist seminaries and theological colleges
Seminaries and theological colleges in New South Wales
Municipality of Strathfield

Leigh College


Catherine of Brunswick may refer to:

 Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg (1330–1390), daughter of Bernhard III, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg; wife and duchess of Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and later Albert of Saxe-Wittenberg, Duke of Lüneburg
 Catherine Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1385–after 1423), daughter of Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein
 Catherine of Brunswick (d. 1439), daughter of Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of Henry XIX (XXIV) of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg
 Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1395–1442), daughter of Henry the Mild, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
 Catherine of Pomerania, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1465–1526), daughter of Eric II, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast; wife and duchess of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
 Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg (1488–1563), daughter of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
 Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Margravine of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1518–1574), daughter of Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin
 Catherine Antonovna of Brunswick (1741–1807), daughter of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, imprisoned by Empress Elizabeth of Russia along with her family for her entire life.

Catherine of Brunswick


Sputnik 41 (, ), also known as Sputnik Jr 2 and Radio Sputnik 18 (RS-18), was a Franco-Russian amateur radio satellite which was launched in 1998 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Aéro-Club de France, and the forty-first anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. A  one-third scale model of Sputnik 1, Sputnik 41 was deployed from the Mir space station on 10 November 1998.

Sputnik 41 was launched aboard Progress M-40 at 04:14 UTC on 25 October 1998, along with supplies for Mir and the Znamya-2.5 reflector experiment. A Soyuz-U carrier rocket placed the spacecraft into orbit, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan: the same launch pad used by Sputnik 1. Progress M-40 docked to Mir on 27 October, and the satellite was transferred to the space station. At about 19:30 UTC on 10 November, during an extra-vehicular activity, Sputnik 41 was deployed by cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Avdeyev.

On 24 November, a fortnight after deployment, Sputnik 41 was in a low Earth orbit with a perigee of , an apogee of , an inclination of 51.6 degrees, and a period of 91.44 minutes. The satellite was given the International Designator 1998-062C and was catalogued by the United States Space Command as 25533. Having ceased operations on 11 December 1998 after its batteries expired, Sputnik 41 decayed from orbit on 11 January 1999.

Sputnik 41 was originally intended to be built aboard Mir, based on a satellite launched in October 1997 as a backup for Sputnik 40. That spacecraft had been stored aboard the space station for a year after the successful deployment of Sputnik 40, and it was intended that it would be fitted with upgraded electronics and deployed. By the time of launch, the project had grown to involve a complete satellite, and the Sputnik 40 backup was never deployed.

References

Spacecraft launched in 1998
Sputnik

Sputnik 41


Dosa ben Saadia (; :  - 1018) was a Talmudic scholar and philosopher who was the Gaon of Sura from 1012 until his death in 1018.

Biography
Born in Tiberias in about 935, his father Saadia Gaon was a prominent figure, the Sura Gaon from 928 to 942. In a letter written in 928, his father mentions his older brother Sheerit, although he does not mention Dosa. This has led scholars to place Dosa's birth around 935, meaning that he was only a young boy when his father died in 942. In 953, Sheerit and Dosa compiled a list of their father's books. Ibn Daud states in Sefer ha-Qabbalah that Dosa wrote a biography about his father entitled The Story of Rav Saadia and the Benefits He Did for Israel which was written in an epistle to Hasdai ibn Shaprut. Some state that Samuel ben Hofni was the last Sura Gaon, although in his commentaries Judah al-Madari includes Dosa in a list of the Sura Gaons. Dosa is also mentioned in the glossary of The Guide for the Perplexed by Maimonides, who states that Dosa was one of the scholars who combated the Greek conception of the eternity of the universe. Most scholars have identified Dosa as being identical with David ben Saadia, who wrote several Talmudic work in Arabic. When Dosa was seventy-five, he became head of the Sura academy, following the death of Samuel ben Hofni in 1012. Only a few of Dosa's responsa's survived, and the ones that did, reflect the modern Halakic stance that defined his father. Notably, Dosa defends Hai Gaon against the criticism that Samuel Ibn Naghrella brings forth regarding Hai Gaon's talmudic interpretations. A more unusual aspect of his life, Dosa had taken an oath in his teenage years to refrain from eating bread as an act of asceticism, which he apparently continued until his death in 1018 in Baghdad.

References

Geonim
Rabbis of Academy of Sura
930s births
1018 deaths
10th-century rabbis

Dosa ben Saadia


Margaret of Brittany (in Breton Marc'harid Breizh, in French Marguerite de Bretagne) (c. 1443 – 25 September 1469) was a duchess consort of Brittany. She was the elder of the two daughters of Francis I, Duke of Brittany (died 1450), by his second wife, Isabella of Scotland.

Since the Breton War of Succession, Brittany had been understood to operate according to the semi-Salic Law: women could only inherit if the male line had died out. As expected from the provision of the Treaty of Guérande, which ended the war, neither Margaret nor her younger sister Marie were recognized as heirs to the duchy. After her father's death, her uncle Peter II of Brittany succeeded as Duke of Brittany. He was also childless, and to avoid any subsequent dispute, he arranged the marriage of Margaret to his first cousin, Francis of Étampes, the second in the order of succession and the last male left of the Breton House of Montfort; also, he arranged the marriage of the younger sister Marie to John II, Viscount of Rohan, the most powerful noble in Brittany.

On 13 or 16 November 1455, Margaret was married to Francis of Étampes, her first cousin once removed, at the Château de l'Hermine in Vannes. She became Duchess of Brittany upon his accession in 1458. Their only son John, Count of Montfort, died at a young age.

Margaret died on 25 September 1469 at the Château de Nantes in Nantes. She was buried in the Nantes Cathedral, in the tomb constructed for her and her husband, and later his second wife, Margaret of Foix.

Notes

1443 births
1469 deaths
Montfort of Brittany
Duchesses of Brittany
15th-century Breton women
Medieval French nobility

Margaret of Brittany


In optics, Cauchy's transmission equation is an empirical relationship between the refractive index and wavelength of light for a particular transparent material. It is named for the mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy, who defined it in 1837.

The equation
The most general form of Cauchy's equation is

where n is the refractive index, λ is the wavelength, A, B, C, etc.,  are coefficients that can be determined for a material by fitting the equation to measured refractive indices at known wavelengths. The coefficients are usually quoted for λ as the vacuum wavelength in micrometres.

Usually, it is sufficient to use a two-term form of the equation:

where the coefficients A and B are determined specifically for this form of the equation.

A table of coefficients for common optical materials is shown below:

The theory of light-matter interaction on which Cauchy based this equation was later found to be incorrect. In particular, the equation is only valid for regions of normal dispersion in the visible wavelength region. In the infrared, the equation becomes inaccurate, and it cannot represent regions of anomalous dispersion. Despite this, its mathematical simplicity makes it useful in some applications.

The Sellmeier equation is a later development of Cauchy's work that handles anomalously dispersive regions, and more accurately models a material's refractive index across the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared spectrum.

Humidity dependence for air
Cauchy's two-term equation for air, expanded by Lorentz to account for humidity, is as follows:

where p is the air pressure in millibar, T is the temperature in kelvin, and v is the vapor pressure of water in millibar.

See also

Sellmeier equation

References

F.A. Jenkins and H.E. White, Fundamentals of Optics, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill, Inc. (1981).

Augustin-Louis Cauchy
Optics
Electric and magnetic fields in matter
Eponymous equations of physics

Cauchy's equation


Garry Davidson (10 February 1954 – 26 November 2020) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong and Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s.

Originally from Devonport, Davidson was at Geelong for three seasons and twice kicked four goals in a game. His second VFL stint, which came four years after leaving Geelong, was with Richmond. He also played with Caulfield in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).

Davidson coached Glenorchy to a Tasmanian Football League premiership in 1983 and also North Hobart to TFL Statewide premierships in 1987 and 1989. He was named, in 2000, as an assistant coach in North Hobart's official 'Team of the Century'.

He has since served as the football manager at Geelong in the AFL and in 2006 was inducted into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame for his career as a coach.

Davidson's son Tom Davidson played one Australian Football League (AFL) game for Collingwood.

References

External links

Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

1954 births
2020 deaths
Geelong Football Club administrators
Geelong Football Club players
Richmond Football Club players
Devonport Football Club players
North Hobart Football Club coaches
Glenorchy Football Club coaches
Glenorchy Football Club players
Australian rules footballers from Tasmania
Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees

Garry Davidson


Ida Gerhardt (11 May 1905, Gorinchem – 15 August 1997, Warnsveld) was a classicist and Dutch poet of a post-symbolist tradition.

Life
In her hometown Rotterdam Ida Gerhardt attended the Erasmus Gymnasium, where the poet J.H. Leopold was her Classics Teacher. He made an indelible impression on her. There she also met her future life partner Marie H. van der Zeyde. From 1924 to 1933 Gerhardt studied classical languages, first in Leiden and later in Utrecht. In 1942 she graduated cum laude on the translation of Lucretius' De rerum natura, Books I and V. From 1937 she was a teacher in Groningen, then in Kampen. In 1951, at the request of the non-conformist pedagogue Kees Boeke, she joined him at the school section of the Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap in Bilthoven. She retired in 1963 and settled in Eefde.

Literary career
Just before the outbreak of World War II in May 1940, Ida Gerhardt made her debut with her first collection of poems, Kosmos. Her poems are characterized by a special focus on nature and landscape, especially the landscapes of the rivers Merwede, Waal, Lek and IJssel. Formed by her classical education and inspired by Christian beliefs, she does not confine to landscape descriptions, but always looks for kosmos, the unity in and of all creation. In her view there is meaning in nature and it is the poet's sacred duty to uncover this. Every poem is a complex network, full of sometimes mysterious relations between words, elements of nature, personal (even private) experiences, and the higher reality. Therefore, her work is often classified as symbolist or post-symbolist.

Gerhardt's poetry was published when another poetics prevailed, which meant that her poetry in official criticism remained in the shadow. A real appreciation of her work emerged  from 1970 onwards. In 1979 she received the Award for Mastership from the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, in 1980 the P.C. Hooftprijs. She also received recognition for her careful translation of the Psalms, which she made together with her friend, Marie H. van der Zeyde (1972). For her Latin translations of Virgil she received the prestigious Martinus Nijhoff Award. Her Collected Poems appeared in 1980 and were reprinted several times.

The literary award Ida Gerhardt Poëzieprijs is named after her.

Bibliography
Kosmos (1940)
De natuur en haar vormen (De rerum natura) (1942)
Het veerhuis (1945)
Buiten schot (1947)
Bij de jaarwende (1948)
Kwatrijnen in opdracht (1949)
Vergilius' Het boerenbedrijf (Georgica) (1949)
Sonnetten van een leraar (1951)
Het levend monogram (1955)
De argelozen (1956)
De hovenier (1961)
De slechtvalk (1966)
De ravenveer (1970)
Twee uur: de klokken antwoordden elkaar (1971)
Vijf vuurstenen (1974)
Vroege verzen (1978)
Het sterreschip (1979)
Nu ik hier iets zeggen mag (1980)
Verzamelde gedichten (1980)
Dolen en dromen (1980)
De zomen van het licht (1983)
De adelaarsvarens (1988)
Hoefprent van Pegasus (1996)
Gebroken lied: een vriendschap met Ida Gerhardt (1999)
Verzamelde gedichten, in three parts, (1999)
Zeven maal om de aarde te gaan (2001)

Sources and references
 Anneke Reitsma, In de taal zelf verscholen : over de poëzie van Ida Gerhardt (Amsterdam : Arbeiderspers, 1983)
 Marie Helene van der Zeyde, De wereld van het vers : over het werk van Ida Gerhardt (Amsterdam : Athenaeum—Polak & Van Gennep, 1985)
 Ad ten Bosch, Gebroken lied : een vriendschap met Ida Gerhardt (Amsterdam : Athenaeum/Polak & Van Gennep, 1999)

External links
 Koninklijke Bibliotheek - profile of Ida Gerhardt (in Dutch)
 Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren - profile of Ida Gerhardt (in Dutch)
 "On translating 'The Carillon' by Ida Gerhardt" - John Irons

1905 births
1997 deaths
Dutch women poets
People from Gorinchem
P. C. Hooft Award winners
20th-century Dutch women writers
20th-century Dutch poets
Dutch translators
Latin–Dutch translators
Translators from Hebrew
20th-century translators
20th-century Dutch women

Ida Gerhardt


Lena Iréne Sofie Theorin (born 18 June 1963) is a Swedish dramatic soprano opera singer.

Education and early years
Born in Gislaved Municipality (at the time Burseryd municipality), Småland, Theorin studied at the Academy of Music and Drama of the University of Gothenburg. After one year there, she received a contract at The Göteborg Opera in Gothenburg. After that she continued studying at 'The Opera Academy' in Copenhagen, Denmark. During her final year there, she also studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and received an Advanced postgraduate diploma.  In 1998, she was a recipient of a Léonie Sonning scholarship (Danish: Stipendium fra Léonie Sonnings Musikfond).

Theorin's professional debut took place in Copenhagen, as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Her repertoire includes Brünnhilde in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Isolde in his Tristan und Isolde, the title role in Puccini's Turandot, and Elisabetta in Verdi's Don Carlos.

Career
Theorin performed at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen in 2004, at the New National Theatre Tokyo in 2005 and performed the role of Brünnhilde on tour with Staatstheater Nürnberg at the Beijing Music Festival in the same year, in Richard Wagner's first-ever Ring Cycle in China. The cycle was produced by Stephen Lawless and the performances were conducted by Philippe Auguin. She performed as Helmwige in the "Ride of the Valkyries" conducted by Antonio Pappano in the 2005 Proms season at the Royal Albert Hall. During the Bayreuth Festival in 2008, Theorin performed the title role of Isolde in Tristan und Isolde and in 2009 gave guest performances at the Washington National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.  Theorin has sung at such opera houses as the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Germany, the Vienna State Opera, Austria, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Germany, the Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, the Salzburg Festival, Austria, The Royal Opera House, London the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy and the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, Sweden.

Personal life
Theorin lives in Broaryd, Sweden.  She has three sons.

References

External links

Iréne Theorin Operabase

1963 births
Living people
People from Gislaved Municipality
Swedish operatic sopranos
University of Gothenburg alumni
Royal Danish Academy of Music alumni
20th-century Swedish women  opera singers
21st-century Swedish women opera  singers

Iréne Theorin


Barkly is a very small town in Victoria, Australia, about 180 kilometres northwest of Melbourne. It is located near the junction of the roads from Landsborough to Redbank, and from Frenchmans to St Arnaud. It is close to the western side of the St Arnaud Range National Park.

The area was first called the Navarre Diggings after gold was found in June 1859 by a group led by James Law (1827-1910). It was about six miles from the Navarre township. This caused a gold rush and there were soon about 700 people on the diggings. At the peak of the rush, there were over 6000 people in the area digging for gold.

James Law, who had come to Australia from Scotland, was given a reward of 150 pounds for being the first person to find gold. Other members of his group, John Fewster, W.R. Marshall and George Mill also were rewarded.

The name was changed to Barkly on 1 November 1861, after the Governor of Victoria, Sir Henry Barkly. The name was changed by the local gold warden, Mr. Warden Alley, a government official in charge of the diggings. A school was started, the Barkly Common School.

A cemetery, now called the Pioneer Cemetery, was begun close to the original diggings. The town of Barkly developed about two miles from this area, and a new cemetery was opened.

Barkly has a small Anglican church, a hall, and a few houses. The school has been closed and the buildings removed. There is a rose and lavender farm which is open to the public during the year. A headstone was placed on James Law's grave on 5 May, 1985. In 1996 a memorial stone was placed at the site of the first gold discovery.

References

Other websites
 Culture Victoria website with photo of the Barkly goldfield
 Barkly Lavender and Rose Farm

1859 establishments in Australia

Barkly, Victoria


Le Beau Serge (, literal English translation: "Handsome Serge") is a 1958 French film directed by Claude Chabrol. It has been cited as the first product of the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave, film movement. The film is often compared with Chabrol's subsequent film Les Cousins, which also stars Gérard Blain and Jean-Claude Brialy.

Plot
François, a young man recovering from a mild case of a respiratory illness (probably tuberculosis), returns to his home town of Sardent after a long absence to spend the winter there. He is surprised to find that his old friend Serge has, dissatisfied with life in the village, become a wretched alcoholic. Serge had hoped to leave the village to study, but had to stay to marry a local girl, Yvonne, when she became pregnant. Their first child was stillborn, but Yvonne is pregnant again.

Though François feels somewhat out of place in the provincial village, he is driven by his desire to figure out a way to help Serge. While he works on this, he strikes up a relationship with Yvonne's promiscuous 17-year-old sister, Marie, with whom Serge also has a sexual history. Marie lives with Glomaud, a drunk who is rumored to not really be her biological father, though no one knows if he is aware of this. After Glomaud confronts François about sleeping with Marie and gets François to say that Marie is not his daughter, François visits Marie and discovers that Glomaud has just raped her.

Serge and François alternately reminisce about the past and argue about the present and future. Things between them come to a head at a town dance when Serge beats up François for trying to stop him from cheating on Yvonne with Marie. François withdraws to his room for a time, unsure of what to do next.

When François hears that Yvonne has gone into labor and neither the doctor nor Serge can be found, he jumps into action. First, he tracks down the doctor, who is attending to a sick Glomaud. The doctor does not want to leave, as he thinks the baby will probably be another stillbirth, while he can help Glomaud, but Glomaud tells him to go, since he has Marie to care for him. Going out again into the cold and dark, François finds Serge sleeping outside. Serge is very drunk, so François has to drag him home through the snow, but they make it in time for the birth of a healthy, though premature, baby boy. François collapses in exhaustion and Serge beams, crying and laughing almost hysterically.

Cast
Gérard Blain as Serge
Jean-Claude Brialy as François Bayon
Michèle Méritz as Yvonne
Bernadette Lafont as Marie
Claude Cerval as the priest
Jeanne Pérez as Madame Chaunier
Edmond Beauchamp as Glomaud
André Dino as the doctor
Michel Creuze as Michel, the baker
Claude Chabrol as La Truffe
Philippe de Broca as Jacques Rivette de la Chasuble

Production
At one point, Chabrol had intended for Les Cousins, rather than Le Beau Serge, to be his first film project, but, due to that film's Paris setting, it would have been twice as expensive to film. Le Beau Serge was filmed in Sardent, where Chabrol, whose mother was from the village, often spent childhood summers with his grandmother and lived during the war years. It was shot over a period of nine weeks in the winter of 1957-8 on a budget of 32 million old French francs, which Chabrol acquired courtesy of an inheritance his first wife had received. The film was initially 2 hours and 35 minutes long. To reduce the running time, Chabrol cut a great deal of quasi-documentary material, a decision he later regretted.

References

External links

Le beau Serge: Homecomings an essay by Terrence Rafferty at the Criterion Collection

French drama films
1958 films
Films directed by Claude Chabrol
Films about alcoholism
1958 directorial debut films

Le Beau Serge


Third Girl is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1966 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings (18/-) and the US edition at $4.50.

It features her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and the recurring character Ariadne Oliver. The novel is notable for being the first in many years in which Poirot is present from beginning to end. It is uncommon in that the investigation includes discovering the first crime, which happens comparatively late in the novel.

Plot summary
Norma Restarick seeks help from Poirot, believing she may have committed murder. When she sees him in person, she flees, saying he is too old. He pursues the case finding that Ariadne Oliver sent Norma to him. He believes there is a murder that prompted Norma's fears. Poirot and Mrs Oliver gather information, visiting her parents' home and her apartment building. Norma does not return home after a weekend visit to her father and stepmother. Mrs Oliver finds her in a café by chance with her boyfriend David. Poirot meets Norma at the café, where she mentions the death again. After describing the odd times where she cannot recall what has happened she leaves in fear again. Mrs Oliver trails David, ending up in the hospital after being coshed on the head upon leaving his art studio. Poirot arranges for Dr Stillingfleet to follow Norma; he pulls her to safety from a close call with speeding traffic and brings her to his place for treatment and for safety.

Norma's father Andrew abandoned her and her mother Grace when Norma was about 5 years old. Andrew had run off with a woman in a relationship that ended soon after. He travelled in Africa in financially successful ventures. Norma lived with her mother until Grace's death two and a half years before. Andrew returned to England after his brother Simon died a year earlier, to work in the family firm, arriving with a new young wife, Mary. Norma can recognize nothing familiar in this man, but accepts him. Norma is the third girl in her flat in the fashion of young women advertising for a third girl to share the rent. The main tenant, Claudia, is secretary to her newfound father; the other girl, Frances, travels often for the art gallery that employs her.

Mrs Oliver learns that a woman in the apartment building had recently died by falling from her window. A week passes before she tells Poirot, who feels this is what bothers Norma. The woman was Louise Charpentier. Norma says that her father ran off with Louise Birell. Later, Mrs Oliver finds a piece of paper linking Louise Charpentier to Andrew. Mary Restarick has been ill from poison in her food. Sir Roderick engages Poirot to find documents missing from his files which brings young Sonia under suspicion.

Norma is lured from Dr Stillingfleet by an ad in the newspaper to meet David, and is again drugged. Frances kills David. She sets it up to appear that Norma did it, but the blood on the knife was congealed when Norma found herself holding it. With police and family gathered in the flat, Poirot announces that Andrew did die in Africa. Robert Orwell is posing as her father to gain the wealth of the family. He had David paint portraits of him and his late wife in the style of a painter popular 20 years earlier as part of the ruse. Most cruelly, he and his wife have been giving Norma various drugs that give her hallucinations and an altered sense of time, to set her up as guilty. Further, the wife had poisoned herself hoping to pin that on Norma, too. Louise wrote to Andrew on learning he was back in England, so Frances killed Louise; this is the murder Norma feared she did. The woman posing as her stepmother was also Frances, who used a blonde wig to cover her dark hair when changing roles. Poirot takes the wig from her bag to make that point. Murder of the two who could expose the imposters was just one of her crimes. Sonia is exonerated when she finds the papers Sir Roderick misplaced, and the two will marry. Poirot had chosen Dr Stillingfleet to help him with Norma in hopes the two would marry, and they will.

Characters
 Hercule Poirot: renowned Belgian detective
 Ariadne Oliver: Poirot's friend, the celebrated author of detective stories
 Miss Felicity Lemon: Poirot's secretary
 George: Poirot's valet
 Chief Inspector Neele: Poirot's police source and investigator for second murder
 Sergeant Conolly: a policeman in the case
 Dr John Stillingfleet: a physician and psychiatrist
 Mr Goby: he leads network of people gathering data for Poirot
 David Baker: Norma's long-haired boyfriend, an artist with a police record; a "peacock"; murdered by Frances.
 Grace Baldwin Restarick: Norma's mother who died two and a half years earlier
 Miss Battersby: former principal of Meadowfield School who attested to Norma being mentally stable
 Robert Orwell: a man who met Andrew Restarick on a project in Africa, and later poses as Andrew

Residing at Sir Roderick's home at Long Basing:
 Sir Roderick Horsfield: past age 65, once active in WWII intelligence, writing his memoirs, maternal uncle to brothers Simon (died one year earlier) and Andrew Restarick
 Sonia: Sir Roderick's personal assistant, young woman from Herzegovina, seen by Mr Goby leaving a book for a man from that embassy
 Andrew Restarick: Norma's father, not seen since she was 5 years old, apparently returned a year ago.
 Mary Restarick: Andrew's young blonde second wife and, thus, Norma's stepmother.

Residing at Borodene Mansions:
 Claudia Reece-Holland: holds the lease of the flat #67 where Norma lives, secretary to her father, and daughter to an MP
 Frances Cary: flatmate of Norma and Claudia, works for a Bond Street art gallery that police are watching; she has long straight dark hair. She plays two roles, as flatmate and as the wife of Robert Orwell, and the couple poses as Andrew and Mary Restarick to gain the family inheritance. She murders those who would expose their disguise.
 Norma Restarick: young woman about 19 or 20 years old, the third girl in the flat.
 Mrs Louise Birell Charpentier: woman in mid 40s, recently died of fall from #76, seventh floor, pushed off by Frances. Louise was the woman the real Andrew Restarick left Norma's mother for.
 Miss Jacobs: older woman, neighbour to Claudia, and had unit below that of Louise.

Literary significance and reception
Unusually for this period, The Guardian did not carry a review of the novel.

Maurice Richardson in The Observer of 13 November 1966 concluded, "There is the usual double-take surprise solution centring round a perhaps rather artificial identity problem; but the suspense holds up all the way. Dialogue and characters are lively as flies. After this, I shan't be a bit surprised to see A.C. wearing a mini-skirt."

Robert Barnard: "One of Christie's more embarrassing attempts to haul herself abreast of the swinging 'sixties. Mrs Oliver plays a large part, detection a small one."

References to other works
The novel reintroduces Stillingfleet, a character from the short story The Dream and first published in book form in the UK in The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding in 1960, and Mr Goby, whose previous appearance had been in After the Funeral in 1953.

In Chapter 4, while Poirot is pretending he shares a military history with Sir Roderick, he makes reference to Colonel Race from novels such as Death on the Nile and Cards on the Table, as well as Inspector Giraud from Murder on the Links.

Adaptations for television
British
A television adaptation by Peter Flannery for the series Agatha Christie's Poirot starring David Suchet as Poirot and Zoë Wanamaker as Ariadne Oliver was filmed in April and May 2008. It aired on 28 September 2008 on ITV. The adaptation took major liberties with the novel, including the following changes:
 The setting is shifted from the 1960s to the 1930s, in accordance with the other episodes in the series.
 The characters of Dr Stillingfleet, Miss Lemon, Sergeant Conolly, Mr Goby and Miss Jacobs are omitted.
 Chief inspector Neele is replaced by inspector Nelson.
 Mary Restarick was Norma's mother, who committed suicide by slitting her wrists when Norma was a little child. Norma's disoriented state is blamed on the trauma caused by her mother's suicide. She is never given drugs.
 Frances Cary is Norma's half-sister, the child of Norma's former teacher, Miss Battersby, and Andrew Restarick. Miss Battersby learned of Robert Orwell's plot, and told her daughter Frances, who became Orwell's accomplice. Frances planned to get Norma hanged, so that Frances would inherit the Restarick fortune.
 Louise Charpentier is replaced by Lavinia Seagram, Norma's former nanny. Frances murders her for the same reason Frances murders Louise in the novel: because she could expose Robert Orwell's impersonation of Andrew Restarick. Frances plants a knife in Norma's room before Nanny Seagram's body is discovered, and then removes the knife afterwards, and uses a similar knife for the murder. This makes Norma believe that she has committed the murder.
 David Baker is not murdered; he serves as Norma's love interest in the absence of Dr Stillingfleet.

French
The novel was also adapted as a 2017 episode of the French television series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie.

Publication history
 1966, Collins Crime Club (London), November 1966, Hardcover, 256 pp
 1967, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1967, Hardcover, 248 pp
 1968, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 230 pp
 1968, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 190 pp
 1968, Pocket Books (New York), Paperback
 1979, Greenway edition of collected works (William Collins), Hardcover,
 2011, Harper paperbacks, 271 pp,

Magazine publication

In the US a condensed version of the novel appeared in the April 1967 (Volume 128, Number 6) issue of Redbook magazine with a photographic montage by Mike Cuesta.

International titles

This novel has been translated to various languages other than its original English. Over 20 are listed here. This is in keeping with the author's reputation for being the most translated author.

Arabic: ألفتاة الثالثه
Bulgarian: Третото момиче /Tretoto momiche/
Croatian: Treća djevojka
Czech: Třetí dívka
Danish: Den tredje pige
Dutch: Het derde meisje
Finnish: Kolmas tyttö
French: La Troisième Fille
Georgian: მესამე გოგონა
German: Die vergessliche Mörderin
Greek: Το χαμόγελο της Μέδουσας
Hungarian: Harmadik lány and A harmadik lány
Indonesian: Gadis Ketiga
Italian: Sono un'assassina?
Norwegian: Den tredje piken
Persian: دختر سوم
Polish: Trzecia lokatorka
Portuguese (Brazil): A Terceira Moça
Portuguese (Portugal): Poirot e a Terceira Inquilina
Romanian: A treia fată
Russian: Третья девушка
Spanish: Tercera Muchacha
Swedish: Tredje Flickan
Turkish: Üçüncü kız

References

External links
 Third Girl at the official Agatha Christie website

 Early in 2014, la troisième fille (Third Girl in French) became one of the nicknames of Julie Gayet.

1966 British novels
Collins Crime Club books
Hercule Poirot novels
Novels about drugs
British novels adapted into television shows
Novels set in the 1960s
Novels set in England

Third Girl


39 Arietis (abbreviated 39 Ari), officially named Lilii Borea , is a star in the northern constellation of Aries. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.5. The distance to this star, as determined from an annual parallax shift of 19.01 mas, is approximately .
This star was formerly located in the obsolete constellation Musca Borealis.

Nomenclature
39 Arietis is the star's Flamsteed designation.

This star was described as Lilii Borea by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1757,
as a star of the now-defunct constellation of Lilium (the Lily). The words are simply the Latin phrase Līliī Boreā 'in the north of Lilium'. Līliī Austrīnā  'in the south of Lilium' was 41 Arietis.

In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name Lilii Borea for this star on 5 September 2017 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.

In Chinese,  (), meaning Stomach, refers to an asterism consisting of 39 Arietis, 35 Arietis and 41 Arietis. Consequently, the Chinese name for 39 Arietis itself is  (, ).

Properties

39 Arietis is a giant star with a stellar classification of K1.5 III. It is currently at an evolutionary stage known as the red clump, indicating that it is generating energy through the fusion of helium at its core. It has 1.6 times the mass of the Sun, but its outer envelope has expanded to around 11 times the Sun's radius. It shines with 56 times the luminosity of the Sun. This energy is being radiated into outer space from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 4,603 K, giving it the cool orange-hued glow of a K-type star.

See also
 Aries (Chinese astronomy)

References

External links
Aladin previewer
Aladin sky atlas
 HR 824

K-type giants
Horizontal-branch stars
Aries (constellation)
BD+28 0462
Arietis, 39
017361
013061
0824

39 Arietis


American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) (; Arabic: الجامعة الأمريكية في العراق، السليمانية) is a not-for-profit, private institution for public benefit, located in Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The university offers an American-style liberal arts education to students from various economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

History
American University of Iraq, Sulaimani was founded in 2006 by a Board of Trustees. The university, modeled after the famous private universities in Cairo and Beirut, was created amid the turmoil of war but in the relatively secure Kurdish region of Iraq. The purpose of founding such a university, according to Dr. Barham Salih was to stimulate reform in the Iraqi education system.

Intellectuals such as Kanan Makiya, Fouad Ajami, and John Agresto, supported the establishment of AUIS. Joshua Mitchell, professor of political theory at Georgetown University became Acting Chancellor in 2008 and remained in his position for two years while on leave from Georgetown.  From 2010 to 2013, Athanasios Moulakis served as Acting President and held the title of President Emeritus of the university. In May 2013, the Board of Trustees chose Dawn Dekle as president. She became the first female president of an Iraqi university when she took up her position at AUIS. Esther Mulnix was chosen to serve as interim president after Dekle's departure. Bruce Walker Ferguson was named President of AUIS on August 1, 2016.

Campus

The main campus has 169-hectares of land situated on the Sulaimani-Kirkuk Road, opposite the University of Sulaymaniyah. Construction of the campus was completed at the start of the academic year in 2011. The campus has several buildings, including an administrative building with a multipurpose conference hall, an academic building, state-of-the-art science labs, a gym, male and female dormitories, as well as two basketball courts and one soccer field. The AUIS library is located in the academic building while its cafeteria is housed in the administrative building. AUIS is currently located just outside the city limits of Sulaymaniyah. The AUIS academic building opened in October 2011 while its administrative building opened in the spring semester of 2012. Moreover, the new student dorm facilities opened in November 2012.

Former campus
AUIS was first located in a temporary campus in the heart of Sulaymaniyah. The campus consisted of about 50 temporary classrooms and offices built near a main administrative building, which housed the university's cafeteria, library, and several large classrooms.

Organization
The university has a board of trustees composed of prominent Iraqi and American leaders from across a wide range of sectors, including government, business, nonprofit and education sectors. The Board of Trustees oversees the management and operations of the university and is a self-perpetuating body that establishes it policies.

Academia

Academic Preparatory Program
The Academic Preparatory Program (APP) prepares non-native English speaking high school graduates to enter the AUIS undergraduate program by teaching them academic English, critical thinking skills, and study habits.

All applicants to American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) must take an English placement test upon admission. Scores on these exams, based on the English requirements, determine placement. About 90 percent of students will require English training before joining the academic program; they receive this training in APP. The program strengthens students' English language skills and provides them with the student success training and intellectual tools needed not only to do well but to thrive in the academic program.

AUIS is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation for the period April 2020 through April 2030 and agrees to uphold the CEA Standards for English Language Programs and Institutions. CEA is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency for English language programs and institutions in the U.S.

APP operates with a high level of quality, with an approved program of study, qualified instructors, adequate resources, and approved recruitment and admissions policies. Through the hard work of the APP staff and instructors, APP has acquired public recognition with this accreditation which indicates that it fully meets US and international standards set by the US Department of Education.

Undergraduate program
The Undergraduate program at AUIS is modeled after the liberal American-style of education. AUIS undergraduates explore different disciplines before choosing a major.

The academic departments at AUIS are the primary vehicle for fulfilling the University's mission. AUIS offers one preparatory program, 22 undergraduate programs including two dual degrees, and one master's degree, organized into two colleges and eight departments.

College of Dentistry
 Bachelor of Dental Surgery

College of Pharmacy
 Bachelor of Pharmacy

Department of Business Administration
 Bachelor of Science, Business Administration
 Bachelor of Science, Human Resource Management
 Bachelor of Science, Digital Marketing and Social Media new
 Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Department of Engineering
 Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering
 Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering
 Bachelor of Science, Energy Engineering
 Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering new
 Bachelor of Science, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Engineering new
 Dual degree Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, with University of Arizona
 Dual degree Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, with University of Arizona

Department of English
 Bachelor of Arts, English Journalism
 Bachelor of Arts, English Literature
 Bachelor of Arts, Translation

Department of Information Technology
 Bachelor of Science, Information Technology
 Bachelor of Science, Cybersecurity new
 Bachelor of Science, Software Engineering

Department of International Studies
 Bachelor of Arts, International Studies
 Bachelor of Arts, International Relations
 Bachelor of Arts, Law

Department of Medical & Health Sciences
 Bachelor of Science, Medical Laboratory Science

Mathematics and Natural Sciences
 Minor Geoscience
 Minor in Mathematics

Graduate programs
AUIS offers an Executive MBA program through its Business and Administration Department.

Professional Development Institute
The Professional Development Institute (PDI) at AUIS complements the educational objectives of the university by providing opportunities for lifelong learning. PDI is a certified Cisco Academy and is accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Account, the Project Management Institute, and ICDL. PDI has also been certified as a PMI Registered Education Provider.

Student life and culture
Students can take part in many activities including drama, debate, linguistics, music, athletics, social work and indoor games like chess. There are several clubs and societies as well as sports and athletic teams for both men and women at AUIS. The university frequently takes part in arranging cultural events outside the campus as well. In 2013, the Drama Club and English Department joined forces to hold The Art of Social Justice - a one-week festival celebrating creative arts. The festival, backed by the US State Department, hosted performances, workshops, discussions and field trips by American and Iraqi artists. Later, AUIS senior lecturer Marie Labrosse published a book, SoJust, that chronicled the arts festival in Sulaimani.

The university has also held events and performances at important cultural landmarks like the Cultural Cafe and Chai Xana Sha'ab, in keeping with the strong traditions of the Sulaymaniyah, which is the cultural capital of Kurdistan. It has also held various poetry recitations, like the Poetry Slam, and a poetry workshop at Koç University in Istanbul.

Clubs and societies
The AUIS drama club produces plays and dramas throughout the year. Some of their productions include "Twelve Angry (Wo)men", "Noor", "Will's Cafe" - a play to celebrate Shakespeare's 450th birthday; and "The Arranged" - a commentary on the tradition of arranged marriages also written by a student Mahdi Murad, and "9 Parts of Desire" - performed during the Art of Social Justice Festival focusing on Iraqi migrant women. In December 2015, two AUIS students, Leah Farooq and Beyan Tahir, were selected to participate in the Home Grown program - an intensive theatrical training provided jointly by the Kevin Spacey Foundation and The Middle East Theatre Academy. The students were part of a troupe of 35 talented young people scouted from all over the Middle East for the workshop. Both participants selected from Iraq were students at AUIS. The workshop culminated in a theatrical performance in Sharjah on January 25, 2015.  AUIS also hosts the offices of the first independent, English language, student newspaper in Iraq, The AUIS Voice. The AUIS Voice  is run by an editorial board composed solely of students. The Washington Post included two pictures of the AUIS Voice staff in a photo collection titled "Youths in Iraq: The War Generation." The outlet is also a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The editorial board selects new editors in the beginning of the fall semester, and the paper is regularly published throughout the fall and spring semester.

Athletics
Student at AUIS, both men and women, are active in sports. The university has two basketball courts and one football field on campus. The official mascot for the athletics teams is the Eagle, and the teams include men's and women's basketball and football. The teams play intercollegiate as well as intramural matches at AUIS, and have also been on international tours. Students on both the women's and men's basketball team at AUIS participated in the 34th Annual Sports Fest at Boğaziçi University in 2014. In 2011, a documentary made by an American film company gained international recognition for the women's basketball team. The film, Salaam Dunk, was shown at several international film festivals including the Chicago International Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival.

Institute of Regional and International Studies
AUIS houses Sulaymaniyah's independent research center, the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS). The center focuses on the local, regional, and international, social and political issues through research, scholarships, debate and conferences. According to the university website, the Institute "examines the region's most complex issues through rigorous scholarship, advanced research, and open dialogue among academic and influential public leaders." The center conducts meetings, round-tables, conferences and lectures on topics pertinent to the local and regional politics. It invites leading figures from the government, political parties, businesses, historical and cultural institutions to have meaningful dialogues on issues and challenges pertinent to the region. Housed in a tolerant and diverse institution, IRIS provides a neutral space for open and critical dialogue on challenging topics. The center runs one of the most strategic conferences, the Sulaimani Forum, which has rapidly gained recognition throughout the region.

Sulaimani Forum
The Sulaimani Forum is an annual forum to open dialogue and debate on the challenging regional political issues concerning the Middle East. The Forum is held in March every year and focuses on the most pressing local and regional issues through in-depth panel discussions and debates. The Forum invites prominent speakers and specialists on topics from both within Iraq, the wider region, and Europe and the United States. The Forum is covered extensively by the local and international media. During the inaugural Forum in 2013, the event trended on Twitter with #SulaimaniForum in Egypt and Iraq. The event explored the changing dynamics of the Middle East and created a very open debate on issues such as Iraq's internal and external relations, oil, security, Kurdistan and the Arab Spring, etc. The speakers and panelists included distinguished names such as Hoshyar Zebari, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Max Rodenbeck among others. "For an Iraqi Kurd and someone who has attended many such events around the world, the Sulaimani Forum provided the most relevant discussions on Iraq, its politics and future," reviewed Kurdish journalist and commentator Hiwa Osman on his blog. The second Sulaimani Forum, "Navigating Challenges in the Middle East" brought together experts from around the region on 4–5 March 2014.  The list of speakers included Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the KRG, who gave a speech at the forum. Others included Hoshyar Zebari, Ahmet Davutoğlu, Zalmay Khalilzad, Falah Al Fayad and Bernard Kouchner.  This Forum was also covered extensively by several media and publications. "While its unofficial epithet, The Davos of the Middle East, may be ambitious, the 2014 Sulaimani Forum, hosted by the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) on March 4th and 5th, was not far off the mark—especially considering that this year's annual Forum was only the second of its kind," reviewed the Invest In Group, covering the highlights of the Forum.

See also

 Private Universities in Iraq
 Salaam Dunk, 2011 documentary about the university's women basketball program
AUC Press
Cairo International Model United Nations
American University of Baghdad (AUIB)
American University of Sharjah (AUS)
American University of Beirut (AUB)
American University in Dubai (AUD)

References

External links
"An American University for Iraq but Not in Baghdad" The New York Times, January 3, 2007

Sulaymaniyah
Universities in Kurdistan Region (Iraq)
Private universities and colleges
Universities and colleges established in 2007
2007 establishments in Iraqi Kurdistan

The American University of Iraq, Sulaimani