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In Kansas, Montana and North Dakota, state legislators made it a crime to take pictures or shoot video in an animal facility without the consent of the facility's owner. In 2002, the conservative organization American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) drafted the "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act", a model law for distribution to lobbyists and state lawmakers. The model law proposed to prohibit "entering an animal or research facility to take pictures by photograph, video camera, or other means with the intent to commit criminal activities or defame the facility or its owner". It also created a "terrorist registry" for those convicted under the law. |
The whistleblower advocacy project Food Integrity Campaign (FIC), a campaign of the non-profit organization the Government Accountability Project calls undercover video of livestock facilities by whistleblowers essential: Ag-gag laws have also drawn criticism on constitutional grounds by eminent legal scholars such as Erwin Chemerinsky, as a violation of the First Amendment for restricting unpopular forms of speech. In August 2015, a U.S. district court ruled such a law passed by the state of Idaho to be unconstitutional as a violation of the First Amendment; Judge B. Lynn Winmill stated that "Although the State may not agree with the message certain groups seek to convey about Idaho's agricultural production facilities, such as releasing secretly recorded videos of animal abuse to the Internet and calling for boycotts, it cannot deny such groups equal protection of the laws in their exercise of their right to free speech." |
Laws Australia In February 2015, Western Australia Senator Chris Back introduced Criminal Code Amendment (Animal Protection) Bill 2015 to the Australian Senate which would add a new section creating an offense if a person created a "record" of animal abuse and then failed to hand it in within 5 days to authorities. Canada Alberta Bill 27, the Trespass Statutes (Protecting Law-Abiding Property Owners) Amendment Act, is a bill aimed at giving property owners more rights and imposes higher fines on those who trespass. The bill, which had its first reading in November 2019, makes specific reference to "land used for the production of crops, the raising and maintenance of animals, and the keeping of bees." |
Ontario Bill 156 was introduced in December 2019 by Ontario's incumbent Progressive Conservative party, proposing fines of up to $25,000 for trespassing on properties utilized by the animal agriculture industry. The bill, titled the Security From Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2019, has been endorsed by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Union des Cultivateurs Franco-Ontariens. In February 2020, a group of law professors in Canada penned a letter to the province's Attorney General, labelling the law as infringing on the Canadian Charter. United States Several states have passed ag-gag laws, many of which have been challenged in court by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. |
Arkansas The constitutionality of Arkansas' ag-gag law is currently being challenged. Idaho In February 2014, Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed Idaho's "ag-gag" bill, the "Agricultural Security Act", into law, which imposed fines and jail time on activists who secretly film abuse on Idaho's commercial farms. It came about as the result of the animal rights organization Mercy for Animals releasing a video of animal abuse by workers on Bettencourt Dairy farms. On August 3, 2015, the Agricultural Security Act was struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho as a violation of the First Amendment. |
This decision was appealed to the Ninth Circuit, and parts of Idaho’s law were struck down on First Amendment grounds in early 2018. Iowa On January 9, 2019, Iowa's ag-gag law was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Southern District Court of Iowa. Kansas The constitutionality of Kansas' ag-gag law is currently being challenged. North Carolina The constitutionality of North Carolina's ag-gag law is currently being challenged. Utah On July 7, 2017, Utah's ag-gag law was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. District Court of Utah, Support Proponents of the laws note that public documentation of factory farming practices will result in negative consequences for the industry. |
"State Sen. David Hinkins (R), who sponsored Utah's law, said it was aimed at the 'vegetarian people who are trying to kill the animal industry.'" When investigators publicize documentation of factory farms, the company generally loses business. For instance, in 2007, an undercover investigator from The Humane Society of the United States visited the Hallmark/Westland slaughterhouse in Chino, California and filmed downed cows, too sick to stand up, being "dragged by chains and pushed by forklifts to the kill floor". A large amount of the meat from this slaughterhouse had been consumed through the National School Lunch Program, and the footage compelled "the U.S. Department of Agriculture to announce what was at the time the largest meat recall in U.S. history". |
Similarly, a Mercy for Animals investigation at Sparboe Farms resulted in McDonald's, Target, Sam's Club, and Supervalu all dropping Sparboe as an egg supplier. The investigation revealed cages full of dead hens rotting alongside living hens who were still laying eggs for human consumption. The investigator documented standard practices such as painful debeaking without painkillers and tossing live birds into plastic bags to suffocate, along with other behaviour deemed "sadistic" and "malicious". Opposition Fifty-nine groups, including a wide variety of welfare, civil liberties, environmental, food safety and First Amendment organizations have publicly stated opposition to ag-gag laws. |
Some of these groups include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Amnesty International USA, Farm Sanctuary, Food and Water Watch, Food Chain Workers Alliance, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, International Labor Rights Forum, National Consumers League, and United Farm Workers, among many others. The statement of opposition explains: These bills represent a wholesale assault on many fundamental values shared by all people across the United States. Not only would these bills perpetuate animal abuse on industrial farms, they would also threaten workers' rights, consumer health and safety, law enforcement investigations and the freedom of journalists, employees and the public at large to share information about something as fundamental as our food supply. |
Individuals and groups such as the ones listed above are concerned that the bills are written to hide welfare and safety violations in the animal agriculture industry from the public view. While laws aimed at restricting documentation or employee applications directly restrict documentation, the third type of law (e.g. Missouri's) is said to be intended to promote the rapid prosecution of any business displaying such practices. However, critics of the bills contend that when all material must be turned over to authorities in such a short amount of time (generally within twenty-four hours), establishments can easily cover up or change their practices or fire the employee before further documentation can occur, making a thorough investigation of any farm virtually impossible. |
Legal challenges On July 22, 2013, the ALDF, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and others filed their first lawsuit challenging ag-gag laws on constitutional grounds, in Utah. Utah's law made it illegal to obtain access to an agricultural operation under false pretenses, such as providing inaccurate information on a job application, which is one of the ways that investigative reporters document violations and abuses. Since then, the ag-gag laws of Utah and three other states have been found unconstitutional. In August 2015, Idaho's ag-gag law was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. District Court for Idaho, and the decision was upheld on appeal. |
Federal district courts overturned Utah's law July 2017, and Iowa's in January 2019, and initially upheld the law in Wyoming, but overturned Wyoming's law in October 2018 following remand from the Tenth Circuit. Legal challenges to ag-gag laws are ongoing in other states, including North Carolina and Kansas. The suit in North Carolina was dismissed by the district court, but the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded the decision. See also Food libel laws Notes External links Undercover Activist Details Secret Filming of Animal Abuse & Why "Ag-Gag" Laws May Force Him to Stop. Democracy Now! |
April 9, 2013. Ag-Gag Laws Silence Whistleblowers. Moyers & Company, July 10, 2013. In the Belly of the Beast: Animal Cruelty is the Price We Pay for Cheap Meat. Rolling Stone. December 10, 2013. Investigative Unit 2013: 'Ag Gag' Threatens Animal Abuse Reporting. ABC News, Dec. 31, 2013. Idaho Bill Would Jail Animal Activists Caught Using Hidden Cameras. Cindy Galli, ABC News February 20, 2014. Exposing animal cruelty is not a crime. Will Potter, CNN June 26, 2014 Saving the Planet, One Meal at a Time. Chris Hedges, Truthdig. November 9, 2014. November, 2018 Category:Animal welfare and rights in the United States Category:Defamation Category:Food law Category:United States law Category:Whistleblowing in the United States |
Egri Bikavér (Bull's Blood of Eger) is a red blend produced in Eger. It is very representative of the red wines of Eger, a terroir wine, which carries the flavour of the soils of local production sites, the mezzo-climate unique to the region and the traditions and mores of local residents, from the selection of varieties to choosing the period and method of grape processing and mellowing. The exact date of the emergence of Egri Bikavér is unknown. One thing is certain; the word Bikavér (bull's blood) was recorded as early as the beginning of the 19th century. Under the name Bikavér, full-bodied red wines were sold, not only in Eger and Szekszárd but other places as well. |
Legends grew up around the name, which tied it to the 1552 siege of Eger as related by Gárdonyi Géza. In its present form, also accepted by the public, Egri Bikavér is associated with the name of Grőber Jenő, Eger vigneron. Sugár István (1981) writes: 'I have searched different sources for the composition of grape types constituting bull's blood. The earliest record dates back to 1912, when, in addition to kadarka, I have found blue frank, cabernet and merlot'. Contemporary vignerons and winemakers have been refining the conditions of the production, name, classification and control of this wine for the past two decades. |
The result of this activity is that Egri Bikavér became the first quality wine in Hungary's history to be produced in a specified region. (Egri Bikavér Regulation of 1997) At present, Egri Bikavér is produced in accordance with a regulation designating 3 tiers of quality: classicus, superior and grand superior. The product description contains the rules of yield restriction, fermentation sur marc, aging in barrels and bottles, as well as the marketing and trading of the wines, for the different tiers. Egri Bikavér is a Kékfrankos-based dry red wine blend, ranging from garnet red to deep ruby, with flavours and aromas presenting rich, spicy and fruity characteristics, without a tannin accent. |
Aging and fresh fruit aromas are both characteristic of the wine; its complexity is well illustrated by the fact that the characteristic feature of the wine is that no single grape type can dominate the wine in question. Due to the riper, more concentrated grape produce, as well as the extended aging in barrels and bottles, Superior and Grand Superior wines have marked aromas of mellowing, lasting flavours, full body and a long shelf-life with minerality and ideas in harmony with the production areas (sites). The difference between them is usually manifested in the fullness and duration of the aroma. |
Blend Egri Bikavér is a blend that has varied over the years, although the blend is anchored by the ancient Kékfrankos variety. Officially Egri Bikavér must contain at least three of the following 13 grapes: Bíbor kadarka, Blauburger, Cabernet franc, Cabernet sauvignon, Kadarka, Kékfrankos, Kékoportó, Menoire, Merlot, Pinot noir, Syrah, Turán, Zweigelt Origin of the name According to legend, the name originates from the invasion of Suleiman the Magnificent around 1552. "To motivate and support the small group of soldiers during the Siege of Eger castle they were served delicious food and a lot of red wine. Among the Turkish soldiers it was rumored that bull's blood was mixed into the red wine, as otherwise the strength and firm resistance of the town and castle of Eger could not be explained. |
Finally the enemy gave up." It has been suggested that the term Bikavér was coined by poet János Garay in 1846. In Finland, the wine is colloquially known as Erkin pikakivääri (Erkki's Automatic Rifle). History Under the Turks, the Hungarians' traditional white grapes were replaced by Kadarka and its relatives. In the 18th century German immigrants brought with them the Blauer Portugieser. Hungary did not escape the effects of the phylloxera epidemic in 1882, after which Kékfrankos and small amounts of the Bordeaux varieties were introduced. At this time the different varieties were often grown together as field blends in the vineyard, and vinified together; towards the end of the 19th century they began to be processed separately into wine and then blended. |
Under Communism, Kadarka was largely replaced by the Bordeaux varieties and in particular the easy-to-grow Zweigelt. This and the industrialisation of production saw Egri Bikavér become a much lighter, simpler wine during the 1970s and 1980s. Following the fall of Communism, much Kadarka has been planted and since the mid-1990s there has been a return to a more traditional, much darker style of wine. In order to eliminate some quality problems, a stricter regulation was planned in the mid 90s. The regulation was introduced in 1997, thus Hungary's first Districtus Hungaricus Controllatus - DHC was created (similar to the French Appellation d'Origine Controllée (AOC) or more like the Austrian Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC) system), enacting the rule specifying that Egri Bikavér must contain 3 out of 11 traditional grape varieties. |
Egri Bikavér Superior In 2004 a new level, Egri Bikavér Superior was introduced. In this case, at least 5 out of the 13 recommended varieties must be used and also a lower yield must be applied (maximum 60 hl/ha). It needs to age at least 12 months in wooden cask and 6 months in bottle before releasing on the market. Regulations on the composition of the blend, the wine making technology and minimum alcohol level also differs from normal Egri Bikavér. All those regulations are aiming for an overall higher quality wine. The raw materials necessary for the production of this wine can be produced only in the Eger district of the wine region, within that only in blue grape plantations with grape cadastre over 300 points, by abiding by the minimum must level (18-20 M/M) and maximum production quantity (80 q/ha) described in the rules and regulations. |
The wine, which is to be produced through the proportionate blending of at least four kinds, is to be mellowed in oak barrels and is to be bottled after the first day of November of the year following the harvest, following preliminary classification. After mellowing in bottles for six months, and following yet another classification, the wine can be marketed. The vitality of this wine can already be guessed from its colour. In its warm, spicy fragrance, the different fruits are mixed, which is completed by a harmony nice in flavours, fine structure and round tannins, with a long and playful subsiding. |
Drinking Despite considerable investment in vineyards and wineries, Egri Bikavér is still quite variable. The difference in quality between good ones and the cheap mass-market versions can be immense. High-quality Egri Bikavér requires two or three years of oak aging, and is best with game, beef, or other spicy food. Egri Bikavér should be served at 15-17 °C. Wineries http://egriborvidek.hu/hu/pinceszetek-borozok References External links Joseph, Darrel (2000)The Revival of Hungary's Bull's Blood Wine Spectator - behind paywall Eger wine region's website: http://egriborvidek.hu/en/our-wines http://en.egriborvidek.eu/egriborok/egribikaver/ Category:Hungarian wine Category:Eger |
Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, commonly known as RUET (রুয়েট), is one of the leading PhD granting public research universities in Bangladesh. It is one of the most prestigious public universities in the country that specialises in the field of engineering. Just like the other public engineering universities, the admission battle of RUET is considered to be the toughest one in the country as a student has to go through the selection process based in their grades and after getting selected, written examination . RUET was founded in 1964 as Rajshahi Engineering College with a limited number of students. |
It was then changed to Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT) in 1986 and was finally renamed Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET) in 2003 when it gained a university status. At present, more than 3500 students are pursuing their higher study in this green campus including under-graduate and post-graduate with over 250 prominent faculty members in diverse field of expertise. The medium of instruction and necessary assessment of this university is English. History Before the independence of Bangladesh, the then Government of Pakistan, to meet the increasing demand of professional engineers for the national development, established Rajshahi Engineering College in 1964 as a faculty of engineering under the University of Rajshahi. |
It was the second engineering college established in the then East Pakistan. Rajshahi Engineering College ( was commonly known as REC) started its journey with only three departments: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical & Electronic Engineering and Civil Engineering, offering bachelor's degree programs only. It accepted its first class of 120 students in the academic session of 1964/65 and the second class of like number in the academic session of 1965/66. The teaching faculty consisted of 19 faculty members at that time. After the independence of Bangladesh (1971), the administration of the college was controlled by the Ministry of Education of Bangladesh and academic curriculum was controlled by University of Rajshahi. |
However, the infrastructural development and maintenance was taken care of by the Public Works Department of Government of Bangladesh. To remove these kinds of aforesaid problems several committees and commissions were formed since 1973. On the recommendation of these committees and commissions, in 1986, Rajshahi Engineering College was converted to an institute and was named Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT), Rajshahi to enhance the technical education. In September, 2003, the institute was upgraded to a university and was named as Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET) to enhance the technical education and research. From that time, the university is financed by the Government through the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh. |
The university is an autonomous statutory organisation of the Government of Bangladesh functioning within the "Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology: Act 2003". Campus RUET is situated in the northern part of Bangladesh, in the city of Rajshahi— the educational center of North Bengal. The RUET campus has been described as representing a "spectacular harmony of architecture and natural beauty". The distinguishable seasons in Bangladesh are summer and winter. In summer season (May–October) temperature of Rajshahi is hot and typically 25-40 degree Celsius and sometimes humid. In winter season (November–April) temperature is moderate typically 8-20 degree Celsius. Faculties and departments RUET has currently eighteen departments under four faculties. |
The university has taken to plan open more departments which was under process. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Department of Industrial & Production Engineering (IPE) Department of Glass & Ceramic Engineering (GCE) Department of Mechatronics Engineering (MTE) Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department of Material Science & Engineering (MSE) Department of Chemical & Food Process Engineering (CFPE) Faculty of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering (CE) Department of Urban & Regional Planning (URP) Department of Architecture (Arch.) |
Department of Geotechnical & Geo-Environmental Engineering (GGE) Department of Building Engineering & Construction Management (BECM) Faculty of Electrical & Computer Engineering Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering (EEE) Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering (ETE) Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering(ECE) Department of Bio-Medical Engineering (BME) Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering (CSIE) Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering Department of Chemistry (Chem) Department of Mathematics (Math) Department of Physics (Phy) Department of Humanities (Hum) Academics Research Research projects RUET won a total of three projects (excluding BdREN project) for improving postgraduate research facilities and producing quality postgraduates from the "Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP)" funded by the World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh during the period of 2014 – 2017. |
Lists of ongoing research project are as follows: Improvement of research capabilities of Mechanical Engineering Department of RUET for producing quality postgraduates and enhancing research outreach. Improving research facilities in Mechanical Engineering Department of RUET for post-graduate studies. Development of teaching learning facilities for undergraduate & graduate program in Mechanical Engineering Department of RUET Research institutes RUET has currently following research institutes: Institute of Information and Communication Technology (IICT) Institute of Energy and Environmental Studies (IEES) Institute of Natural Hazard & Disaster Management (INHDM) RUET has already taken plan to open more research institutes to enhance the technical education and research activities. |
Research and extension unit The research and outreach program of RUET is conducted by the research and extension unit. The main responsibilities of this unit is management of research, innovation, research publications, research planning, implementation, research related activities and research related communication with public and private sectors in nation and international level. International collaboration RUET has collaborative agreements with foreign institute and will extend further to enhance the research work, technical knowledge and skills. The collaborative areas covered are joint research activities, joint hosting of seminars, conferences and symposia, exchange of students (both UG and PG), exchange of faculty members, exchange of academic materials, publications and information etc. |
At present, the collaboration of RUET exists with the following ones. Kitami Institute of Technology (KIT) University of the Ryukyus Saitama University International conferences For the last few years, RUET has been organising national and international conferences in its campus to enhance the research capabilities of its students and faculties. Among the conferences organised by RUET, the following ones are notable. |
International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Materials Engineering (ICMIME): Organised biennially by the faculty of Mechanical Engineering International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering (ICECTE): Organised biennially by the faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering International Conference on Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering (ICPACE): Organised biennially by the faculty of Civil Engineering International Conference on Electrical and Electronic Engineering (ICEEE): Organised biennially by the department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering International Conference on Computer & Information Engineering (ICCIE): Organised biennially by the department of Computer Science and Engineering Admission Getting into the major engineering university like RUET, it appears to be the toughest public university admission test battle to the aspiring candidates. |
RUET has a very selective approach when it comes to admitting a certain number of students into various disciplines of engineering each year. Undergraduate The undergraduate admissions process begins after all education boards of the country declare the results of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations. After initial assortment according to HSC result, a certain number of eligible candidates are shortlisted for an elaborate written test. Usually application for admission start from September of each year, and an admission test is usually held in October or November as per decision of the admission committee. A total of 875 students were admitted in 2016. |
Post-graduate Admission notices for the post-graduate program usually circulate twice a year, in April and October. The notice is advertised on the university website. The list of valid candidates is published on the university website upon completion of the preliminary process and call for viva. Facilities Laboratories Most of the newly established departments of the RUET don't have enough laboratory facilities. But the older ones have enough laboratory facilities not only for academic research but also for consultancy services. RUET is taking steps for establishing laboratory facilities for the newly established departments and for enhancing laboratory facilities for the older ones. |
Faculty of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering Soil Mechanics Lab Strength of Materials Lab Fluid Lab Environment Lab Public Health Lab Transportation Lab Concrete Lab Department of Urban & Regional Planning GIS Laboratory Cartography Laboratory Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Thermal Engineering Lab (Heat Engine Lab) Fluid Mechanics and Energy Lab Applied Mechanics and Machine Design Lab Material Science and Metallurgy Lab Metrology Lab Wood Shop Machine Shop Foundry Shop Boiler Shop Fitting Shop Welding & Sheet Metal Shop Computer Lab Department of Glass and Ceramic Engineering Ceramic Forming Lab Micro-structure Lab Ceramic Testing Lab Faculty Of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Electrical Machine LAB Electronics and Power Electronics Lab Electrical Circuit and Measurement Lab Computer Lab(1) Telecommunications and Microwave Lab Photovoltaic and Nanotechnology Lab Computer Lab(2) Power Electronics & Green Energy lab. |
High Voltage Lab Department of Computer Science and Engineering Software Lab Network Lab Operating System Lab Hardware Lab ACL Lab Game and Android Development Lab Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering Communication Laboratory Antenna and Propagation Laboratory Photonics Laboratory Digital Signal Processing Laboratory Microelectronics Laboratory Other laboratories Physics Lab Chemistry Lab Further development In February, 2017, Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved 3.40 billion Taka to implement a mega project for the RUET, aiming to well decorate and development the whole campus and its education and research. The ECNEC approved the project in the name of "Further Development Project of RUET". |
Student life Accommodation Student dormitories (called halls) are important features in campus life. There are seven residential halls. One of them, namely Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall, is for female students and the remaining ones are for male students. The administrative head of a hall is its provost, usually chosen from the more senior teachers. The halls are mostly named after national heroes and leaders. These are listed below with their capacities: Organisations and clubs Students of RUET are involved in different organisations and clubs of the university. Members of these organisations and clubs organise different national programs at RUET. They also participate in different national and international competitions and shows indomitable performances. |
Some of the leading organisations and clubs of RUET are mentioned here. |
IEEE RUET Student Branch Robotic Society of RUET (RSR) Society of Automotive Engineers-RUET (SAER) Civil Engineering Society of RUET RUET Debating Club (RUET DC) RUET Career Forum (RCF) Telecommunication Club RUET Analytical Programming Lab (RAPL) Astronomy and Science Society of RUET ( ASSR ) অনুরণন: The cultural Club of RUET সমানুপাতিক : A voluntary organisation of RUET Photographic Society of RUET (PSR) (Zinnur Rahman is the media secretary of PSR Committee since 2019-2020) RUET Cricket Club RUET Football Club (RUET FC) Society of Computer Aided Designer, RUET (SCADR) RUET Earthquake Society RUET AutoCad Club Tennis Club RUET Team Crack Platoon RUET Fitness Club নিরাপদ রক্তের বন্ধন(নিরব) : A voluntary blood donating organisation of RUET Machine Learning Group Of RUET RUET English Language Club (RELC) RUET Firefox Club Cube Club of RUET RUET Film Club Mathematical Society of RUET RUET Tourist Club RUET HAWKS (RUET Basketball Club) RUET Chess Club Innovation Society of RUET (ISR) Others The athletic club of the university provides multi-purpose sports facilities to the students to acquire physical fitness indispensable for a healthy mind and body. |
The university maintains a beautiful playground for football, cricket, badminton, volleyball, long tennis, basketball, etc. Indoor facilities are also available in the physical education building close to the playground. RUET has a library, a central computer center, an auditorium, a canteen, a cafeteria, a medical center, a postal service and a banking service. RUET also has its own regular bus service almost everywhere in the Rajshahi city for the convenience of student transportation. Students these are residing in the city outside the campus can take this transport service to reached the campus due time. Awards RUET won the IEEE Photonics GSF Award, USA in October 2009 RUET won the Marubun Research Promotion Award, Japan in March 2009 Education cost Yearly academic cost is $40 (2800 Taka) (approx) in all departments. |
Admission cost is $213 (18,000Taka) (approx) including academic cost (admission, session, registration and student fees), medical costs, library, sports, convocation (3500 Taka) and others expenditure and for one time in four years bachelor's degree. Photos See also List of Universities in Bangladesh BUET CUET KUET University Grants Commission (Bangladesh) References 01. রুয়েটের নতুন ভিসি ড. মো. রফিকুল ইসলাম শেখ External links Official website of RUET Website of Robotic Society of RUET Website of IPE Department Category:Educational institutions established in 1964 Category:1964 establishments in Pakistan Category:Technological institutes of Bangladesh Category:Public engineering universities of Bangladesh Category:Engineering universities and colleges in Bangladesh Category:Education in Rajshahi |
Titanium(II) chloride is the chemical compound with the formula TiCl2. The black solid has been studied only moderately, probably because of its high reactivity. Ti(II) is a strong reducing agent: it has a high affinity for oxygen and reacts irreversibly with water to produce H2. The usual preparation is the thermal disproportionation of TiCl3 at 500 °C. The reaction is driven by the loss of volatile TiCl4: 2 TiCl3 → TiCl2 + TiCl4 The method is similar to that for the conversion of VCl3 into VCl2 and VCl4. TiCl2 crystallizes as the layered CdI2 structure. Thus, the Ti(II) centers are octahedrally coordinated to six chloride ligands. |
Derivatives Molecular complexes are known such as TiCl2(chel)2, where chel is DMPE (CH3)2PCH2CH2P(CH3)2 and TMEDA ((CH3)2NCH2CH2N(CH3)2). Such species are prepared by reduction of related Ti(III) and Ti(IV) complexes. Unusual electronic effects have been observed in these species: TiCl2[(CH3)2PCH2CH2P(CH3)2]2 is paramagnetic with a triplet ground state, but Ti(CH3)2[(CH3)2PCH2CH2P(CH3)2]2 is diamagnetic. A solid-state derivative of TiCl2 is Na2TiCl4, which has been prepared by the reaction of Ti metal with TiCl3 in a NaCl flux. This species adopts a linear chain structure wherein again the Ti(II) centers are octahedral with terminal, axial halides. References Category:Metal halides Category:Chlorides Category:Titanium compounds |
The Honours of Scotland, informally known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, are the oldest surviving set of crown jewels in the British Isles. The regalia were used together for the coronation of Scottish monarchs from Mary I in 1543 until Charles II in 1651. They were used to represent Royal Assent to legislation in the Estates of Parliament before England and Scotland were unified under one parliament in 1707, at which time the Honours were locked away in a chest and the English Crown Jewels were adopted by British monarchs. They were rediscovered in 1818 and have been on public display at Edinburgh Castle ever since. |
The Honours have been used at state occasions including the first official visit to Scotland as monarch by George IV in 1822 and the first such visit by Elizabeth II in 1953. The Scottish Parliament was founded in 1999 and the Honours are used there once again to represent Royal Assent. There are three primary elements of the Honours of Scotland: the crown, the sceptre, and the Sword of State. The gold crown, decorated with gems and pearls, is Scottish, and the sceptre and sword were gifts from the pope made in Italy. They also appear on the crest of the royal coat of arms of Scotland and on the Scottish version of the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, where the red lion of the King of Scots is depicted holding the sword and sceptre and wearing the crown. |
Robes, a pair of spurs and a ring also had been part of the Scottish regalia, and queens consort had their own consort crown, none of which survives today. The secondary Honours comprise a silver-gilt wand, three items of insignia and a ring once owned by James VII added in 1830, and a necklace with a locket and pendant bequeathed to Scotland by the Duchess of Argyll in 1939. History Early history Use of regalia by monarchs in Scotland can be traced back to when Britain was converted to Christianity in the Middle Ages. In the earliest known depiction of a Scottish king wearing his symbols of sovereignty, King Edgar wears a crown and bears a sword and a sceptre on his Great Seal; he reigned from 1097 until 1107. |
His son, Alexander I, is shown holding an orb – a pictorial emblem of divine kingship that was not actually part of the Scottish Honours. By the reign of John Balliol, the regalia consisted of a crown, sceptre, sword and ring. After the English invasion in 1296, the regalia and Stone of Scone, upon which monarchs of Scotland were invested and crowned, were captured by the English army and taken south to London. New items were made for subsequent coronations, and these were gradually replaced during the 16th century with the current set of Honours, consisting of a crown made in Scotland and a sword and a sceptre both made in Italy and given to Scotland as papal gifts. |
A consort crown was made for Mary of Guise, wife of James V, in 1539; it does not survive among the Honours. The monarch's regalia were first used together by Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543. By the second half of the century, they represented royal authority in the Scottish Parliament, and Acts of Parliament were given royal assent when the monarch or one of his or her commissioners touched it with the royal sceptre. 17th century Spurs – emblems of knighthood and chivalry – were presented to Charles I at his Scottish coronation in 1633; the spurs and coronation robes also have been lost. |
The Honours were last used at coronation in 1651 by Charles II. His father Charles I had been overthrown and executed by order of the Parliament of England, which ordered almost all of the English Crown Jewels to be melted down and struck into coins. However, the Honours of Scotland were hidden, firstly in Dunnottar Castle, which was later besieged by the New Model Army, and from where the Honours were smuggled out; secondly under the floor of Kinneff Parish Church, to be recovered after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Although they had been found, the Honours were no longer used to crown Scottish sovereigns after Charles II. |
Until the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Honours of Scotland were taken to sittings of the Parliament of Scotland to represent the monarch, who lived in England since the Union of the Crowns in 1603. After the Act of Union, the two parliaments having been dissolved, the Parliament of Great Britain sat in London; the Honours of Scotland, having no symbolic role in the unified British Parliament, were locked away in a chest at Edinburgh Castle. 19th century There they remained, almost forgotten, until 1818 when the future George IV, acting as Prince Regent, issued a royal warrant authorising the historian Walter Scott and a group of officials to break down the wall of the ancient Crown Room on 4 February. |
Half expecting to find the oak chest empty, they were relieved to open it and discover the crown, sceptre and sword exactly as they had been left 111 years earlier. The Royal Standard was hoisted above Edinburgh Castle in celebration of the historic moment. Cheers of excitement rippled through the castle, and members of the public gathered outside to hear the news. On 26 May 1819, the Honours went on public display in the Crown Room. They were guarded by two veterans of the Battle of Waterloo dressed in a Tudor-style Yeoman's outfit. George IV was crowned king in 1821 and his visit to Scotland the following year was the first by a monarch since 1651. |
On 12 August 1822, the Honours were escorted in procession to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. There was a carnival atmosphere, with people lining the streets and observing from windows. Three days later, the king arrived at the palace and symbolically touched the regalia. Before leaving the country a week later, he took part in a return procession to the Castle, where the Honours would remain until the 20th century. 20th century to present day In 1911 the sword was carried before George V at the official opening of the Thistle Chapel in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh – the first time any of the regalia had left Edinburgh Castle since 1822. |
During the Second World War, the Honours were hidden at the Castle owing to fears they might be lost if the UK fell to Germany. The crown and Stewart Jewels were buried under the floor of a water closet, while the sceptre, sword and wand were hidden inside a wall. The only officials who knew of the hiding places were George VI, the Scottish Secretary of State, the King's Remembrancer, and the Governor General of Canada. In 1953, they were presented to the newly crowned Elizabeth II at a National Service of Thanksgiving in St Giles' Cathedral. Keen to avoid the service being interpreted as a Scottish coronation, Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister, advised the Queen to dress with relative informality. |
From 1971 until 1987 the sword was used at the installation of a Knight of the Order of the Thistle, Scotland's highest Order of Chivalry. When the Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland in 1996 it also was placed in the Crown Room alongside the Honours. During renovations in the 1990s, the Honours were temporarily stored at an anonymous bank in Edinburgh. The Crown of Scotland was present in May 1999 at the first sitting of the devolved Scottish Parliament. It was carried on a cushion, the official reason being that it was too fragile for the Queen to wear. |
The crown was present again in October 2004 at the opening of the new Scottish Parliament Building and at the opening ceremonies of each new session of the Scottish Parliament. In 2018 plans were announced to renovate the "past its sell-by date" Honours exhibition and improve accessibility. Regalia Crown It is not known exactly when the original Crown of Scotland was made, but it can be seen in its pre-1540 form in a portrait of James IV in the Book of Hours that was created for his marriage to Margaret Tudor in 1503. Arches were added to the crown by James V in 1532, making it an imperial crown, symbolising the king's pretensions of being an emperor of his own domain, subservient to no one but God. |
Arches first appeared as pictorial emblems on coins under James III, who in 1469 claimed "ful jurisdictione and free impire within his realm". In 1540 the base was melted down and recast by the Edinburgh goldsmith John Mosman with the addition of 22 gemstones to the original 20 and an extra of gold. James V first wore it to his wife's coronation in the same year at Holyrood Abbey. It weighs and the base is decorated with alternating fleurs-de-lis and crosses fleury. Two gold arches, preserved from the original, are surmounted by a gold monde enamelled blue with stars representing the night sky. |
On top of the monde is a cross decorated with black enamel, pearls, and a large amethyst. A purple velvet cap was manufactured by Thomas Arthur of Edinburgh; this was changed to a red cap by James VII (1685–88), and the present cap dates from 1993. Four gold ornaments with a large pearl in the centre are attached to the cap between the crown's arches. Sceptre The Sceptre of Scotland was a gift made in Italy from Pope Alexander VI to James IV in either 1491 or 1494 and was remodelled and lengthened in 1536. It is made of silver gilt and topped by a finial of polished rock. |
The sceptre includes grotesques and Christian symbols: stylised dolphins – symbols of the Church – appear on the head of the rod, as do images of the Virgin Mary holding a baby Christ, of Saint James the Great, and of Saint Andrew holding a saltire. Sword of State The Sword of State of Scotland was also a papal gift: Pope Julius II presented it to James IV in 1507 (see blessed sword and hat). It was made by Domenico da Sutri and replaced a native sword that had been made in 1502. The etched blade, measuring in length, includes figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, as well as the etched name of Julius II. |
The silver-gilt handle bears figures of oak leaves and acorns, with a crossguard in the form of dolphins. It is accompanied by a wooden scabbard which is bound in crimson velvet with silver-gilt repoussé work and hung from a woven silk and thread-of-gold belt that has a silver-gilt buckle. Other jewels in the Crown Room Since 1818 the coronation regalia have been supplemented in the Crown Room with other pieces of ceremonial jewellery. Wand Alongside the crown, sceptre and sword, Walter Scott found a silver-gilt wand. It measures in length and is topped with a faceted crystal monde surmounted by a cross. |
The wand has a wooden core and the unknown maker's initials F.G. The object's intended role – if it had one at all – has been forgotten, and its presence among the regalia is still a mystery. Walter Scott thought it may have been carried before the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. Although the Treasurer did have a mace it was a different shape. Stewart Jewels Four objects taken into exile by James VII after the Glorious Revolution in 1688 are also displayed: a locket, a Great George and collar, and a ruby ring. They all returned to Britain 119 years later and were given to Edinburgh Castle on permanent loan by William IV in 1830. |
The St Andrew Jewel of the Order of the Thistle is a gold and silver locket suspended from a ribbon that contains an oval piece of chalcedony into which is carved a cameo figure of Saint Andrew. The cameo is bordered with 12 diamonds. Inscribed on the back is the Order's Latin motto: NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT, meaning "no one attacks me with impunity". Inside is a miniature portrait of Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern, wife of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the elder son of James VII. The object is variously of English, French, Italian and Dutch origin, was altered several times, and measures by . |
The Collar and the Great George of the Order of the Garter consist of an enamelled gold figure of Saint George, the patron saint of England, slaying a dragon made for Charles II in 1661 suspended from a gold collar made in 1685. The George is set with 122 diamonds and measures by . The saint's cloak and a large suspension loop are both missing. The collar is long and has 26 alternating knots and enamelled badges, each with a tudor rose in the centre. The Ruby Ring was probably used at the English coronations of Charles I and Charles II, and certainly that of James (known in England as James II). |
It has a large ruby etched with a St George's Cross and bordered by 26 diamonds applied in the 19th century. Lorne Jewels Queen Victoria's fourth daughter Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, died in 1939 and left a necklace, locket, and pendant to the nation of Scotland. The London-made jewellery was a gift to Louise from her husband the Marquis of Lorne (later the Duke of Argyll) in 1871. The necklace contains 190 diamonds and 13 pearls; it suspends the locket, consisting of a large pearl surrounded by 30 diamonds; from which hangs the pear-shaped pendant, set with diamonds, emeralds and sapphires, having a relief depiction of the Galley of Lorne and the motto of Dukes of Argyll: NE OBLIVISCARIS, meaning "do not forget". |
Commissioners for the Keeping of the Regalia Under the terms of a Royal Warrant of 1818, the holders of four of the Great Offices of State in Scotland, the Lord Justice Clerk, the Lord Advocate, the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, (The First Minister of Scotland), and the Lord Clerk Register, are ex-officio Commissioners for the Keeping of the Regalia. The warrant gave the keepers the power to appoint a deputy-keeper and Yeoman-keepers. Accordingly on 8 December 1818 Captain Adam Ferguson was appointed. Since 1996, the commissioners have also been empowered by another Royal Warrant for the safekeeping of the Stone of Scone and for the arrangement of its return to Westminster Abbey for the next British coronation. |
See also Scottish State Coach Coat of arms of Kincardineshire Christian Fletcher Great H of Scotland Honours of Wales References Bibliography Crown Jewels at the Edinburgh Castle website The Honours of Scotland at the Royal Family website Further reading External links Explore the Collection at Historic Environment Scotland Category:Scottish monarchy Category:Scottish culture Category:Edinburgh Castle Category:National symbols of Scotland |
Chatty may refer to: Kerim Chatty Charmin Chatty Chatty Cathy Chattanooga, Tennessee Similar names: Chaty, a near-extinct ethnic group of Russia |
The Nationality Rooms are a collection of 31 classrooms in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning depicting and donated by the national and ethnic groups that helped build the city of Pittsburgh. The rooms are designated as a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation historical landmark and are located on the 1st and 3rd floors of the Cathedral of Learning, itself a national historic landmark, on the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Although of museum caliber, 29 of the 31 rooms are regularly used as functional classrooms that are utilized daily by University of Pittsburgh faculty and students, while the other two (the Early American and Syrian-Lebanon) are mostly used as display rooms viewed through glass doors and are otherwise utilized primarily for special events and can only be explored via special guided tour. |
The Nationality Rooms also serve in a vigorous program of intercultural involvement and exchange in which the original organizing committees for the individual rooms remain as participants and includes a program of annual student scholarship to facilitate study abroad. In addition, the Nationality Rooms inspire lectures, seminars, concerts exhibitions, and social events which focus on the various heritages and traditions of the nations represented. The various national, traditional, and religious holidays of the nations represented are celebrated on campus and the rooms are appropriately decorated to reflect these occasions. The Nationality Rooms are available daily for public tours as long as the particular room is not being used for a class or other university function. |
History The Nationality Room Program was founded by Ruth Crawford Mitchell at the request of Pitt Chancellor John Bowman in 1926 in order to involve the community as much as he could in constructing the Cathedral of Learning and to provide the spiritual and symbolic foundation of the Cathedral that what would make the inside of the building as inspiring and impressive as the outside. Under Mitchell's direction, invitations were extended to the nationality communities that made up the Pittsburgh area to provide a room that was representative of their heritage. Each group had to form a Room Committee, which would be responsible for all fundraising, designing, and acquisition. |
The University provided the room and upkeep in perpetuity once completed, while all other materials, labor, and design were provided by the individual committees. These were sometimes partly provided for by foreign governments which, "...responded with generous support, often providing architects, artists, materials, and monetary gifts to assure authenticity and superb quality in their classrooms." Each room's detail is carefully designed and executed down to the switch plates, door handles, hinges, and wastebaskets. The work is often performed and designed by native artists and craftsmen and involves imported artifacts and materials. Mitchell remained Director of the Nationality Rooms program until 1956, having overseen the creation of the first 19 rooms on the first floor of the Cathedral. |
A successor to Mitchell wasn't named until 1965, E. Maxine Bruhns took over the program, overseeing the completion (so far) of eight additional rooms on the third floor. Bruhns retired on Jan. 1, 2020, after 54 years in the position. A typical room on the 1st floor (those built between 1938 and 1957) took between three and ten years to complete, and would have cost the equivalent of $ USD today, which was no small undertaking, especially considering that the fundraising and construction of the initial rooms took place during the Great Depression and World War II. More recent rooms have cost in the range of US$750,000 and up and taken up to ten years to complete. |
Upon completion of their rooms, the committees turn to a program of intercultural exchange and fundraising for nationality rooms scholarships which enable University of Pittsburgh students and faculty to study abroad. The room committees also sponsor cultural and fundraising events, lectures, concerts, exhibits, social events, and workshops on ethnic studies that may utilize the rooms. The committee may use its room for non-political meetings, lectures, or other functions if no classes are scheduled. Distinguished international visitors are received by the committees, and special projects are undertaken including the purchase of books for the University libraries, publication of volumes on topics from comparative literature to ethnic recipes, and the fostering of courses in the mother languages. |
National, traditional, and religious holidays are celebrated on campus, and committees decorate their rooms or mount displays to commemorate special occasions. The first four rooms to be dedicated were the Scottish, Russian, German, and Swedish Rooms in 1938." The newest rooms the Turkish and Swiss rooms both dedicated in 2012, the Korean room dedicated in 2015, and the Philippine Room dedicated in 2019. Original plans also proposed, in addition to the Nationality Rooms on the first floor, the creation of "Pennsylvania" classrooms on the second floor to be dedicated to the pioneering groups within the state along with third floor "Pittsburgh" classrooms dedicated to showcasing the history of the Western Pennsylvania or different eras of American history. |
Although the plans for the series of rooms were drawn up, only one room was installed, the Early American Classroom, which is now counted among the other Nationality Rooms. The plans for the other Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania rooms were never executed, and the Nationality Room program grew to occupy all of the first and much of the third floor. Upon completion of a room, a dedication ceremony is held in which a formal presentation of a ceremonial key is presented to the University's Chancellor in order to symbolize the bestowal and acceptance of the gift with a commitment on behalf of the University to maintain the room in perpetuity. |
The particular nationality room committee's officers then become active members of the Nationality Council which focuses on providing summer study abroad scholarships for Pitt students along with other non-political cultural or educational events within the Nationality Program's scope. Today the Cathedral is home to 31 Nationality Rooms (29 working classrooms and two display rooms: the Early American Room and the Syrian-Lebanon Room), on the first and third floors. Each nationality room is designed to celebrate a different culture that had an influence on Pittsburgh's growth, depicting an era prior to 1787, the University's founding and the signing of the United States Constitution. |
Only one room does not follow this convention, with the French Classroom depicting the French Empire period of the early 19th century. There are currently seven additional rooms in the process of being approved and funded. Set in the Cathedral of Learning's cornerstone in 1937 is a gift from the Nationality Room Committee chairpersons to the University: a copper plate engraved with these thoughts: Faith and peace are in their hearts. Good will has brought them together. Like the Magi of ancestral traditions and the shepherds of candid simplicity, they offer their gifts of what is precious, genuine and their own, to truth that shines forever and enlightens all people. |
Since 1944, tours of the nationality rooms have been given to visitors by a Pitt student organization, Quo Vadis (meaning Where do you go? ); they guide over 40,000 tourists a year. With reservations, specially themed tours based on creature symbolism, images of royalty, and folktales are also given. An estimated 100,000 visitors, including self-guided and walk-in tourists, visit the Nationality Rooms each year. Principles The following principles, in order to assure commonality of purpose, authenticity, and non-political cultural emphasis, governed the creation of nationality rooms from the programs inception in 1926 until the completion of the Irish Classroom in 1957. |
A Nationality Room must illustrate one of the outstanding architectural or design traditions of a nation that is recognized as such by the United States Department of State. The design of a given historical period must be cultural and aesthetic, not political. The period depicted should be prior to 1787, the year the University was founded. To avoid political implications in the room, no political symbol is permitted in the decorations, nor a portrait or likeness of any living person. The only place a political symbol may be used is in the corridor stone above the room's entrance. No donor recognition may appear in the rooms. |
Donor recognition to the rooms is recorded in a Donor Book. Most architects and designers of the rooms have been born and educated abroad. This has been instrumental in ensuring authenticity of design. In the 1970s, policy revisions were implemented which retaining most of the earlier principles, utilized a broader definition of nation to include a body of people associated with a particular territory and possessing a distinctive cultural and social way of life. This allowed the creation of the Armenian and Ukrainian rooms prior to their establishment as independent nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as allowing for the installation of the African Heritage Room. |
The room must also be a functional teaching classroom with enough student tablet-armed seats, professor's lectern or table, adequate sight lines and lighting, modern audiovisual technology, and other necessities of a classroom. New rooms also have narrated tour equipment. Materials are to remain authentic and durable that are executed through architectural form and not mere surface embellishment and are to provide eternal qualities that have the potential to "teach" about the cultures with appropriate non-political symbols and artifacts. Classrooms African Heritage The African Heritage Classroom was designed to reflect an 18th-century Asante temple courtyard in Ghana which would provide the setting for ceremonial events, learning, and worship. |
The classroom represents the entire continent of Africa with Yoruba-style door carvings by Nigerian sculptor Lamidi O. Fakeye depicting ancient kingdoms of Africa including Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, Benin, Kongo/Angola, Kuba, Mali, and Zimbabwe. Plaster forms in the frieze represent the arts, music, science, languages, and literature of Africa. A display case housing artifacts from various African nations and the chalkboard area reflect patos around the courtyard. Below the chalkboard doors depicting the Igbo lozenge and star motif are Sankofa birds which symbolize the need to learn from the past in order to prepare for the future. The oxblood steps, two levels of student benches, and wainscot with relief decorations suggest the polished clay of an Asante temple. |
Openwork screens are present on the windows as they are used in Asante structures to filter the sun's rays while allowing air flow. Six chieftain stools provide informal seating near a hand-carved professor's lectern. Armenian The Armenian Classroom was inspired by the 10th- to 12th-century Sanahin Monastery. The design consists of intersecting arches and a domed ceiling built to lessen damage from frequent earthquakes in that country. The room's arches, built of Indiana limestone, make this the heaviest of the Nationality Rooms, weighing 22 tons, and required the second floor beneath the room to be reinforced in order to support its weight. |
The cornerstone is a basalt stone from the grounds of Sanahin. In the mortar behind it are the thumbprints of five of the oldest Armenian diaspora living in the Pittsburgh area, as well as the handprint of an infant of Armenian descent, symbolizing the continuity of the Armenian presence in western Pennsylvania. Austrian The Austrian Nationality Room represents the 18th-century era of the Austrian Empire during its age of enlightenment under Empress Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II and incorporates Baroque elements of the Haydnsaal in Schloss Esterházy at Eisenstadt where Joseph Haydn served as Kapellmeister from 1766 to 1778. |
Ceiling paintings depict scenes from Roman mythology similar to those in the Haydnsaal. The room features Lobmeyer crystal chandeliers, gilded white lacquer seminar furniture patterned after that in the formal dining hall of Vienna's Hofburg, royal red-tapestried walls, gold-leafed pilasters, and a parquet floor inlaid in a starburst design. Exhibits in the display cases in the room trace the development of the multinational Austrian Empire and the birthplaces of representative Austrian composers born within its borders between the years 1000 and 1918. Chinese The Chinese Classroom is inspired by the design of a palace hall in Beijing's Forbidden City and is dedicated to the memory of Confucius and his democratic ideal of classless education. |
The teacher and students sit at the same level around a moon-shaped teakwood table. The professor's chair is carved with the admonition to "Teach by inspiring gradually and steadily". A slate portrait of Confucius is present that is patterned after one in the Confucian temple at his birthplace of Qufu in Shandong Province. Above the red lacquered door, Chinese characters are carved into the stone lintel that proclaim that "Humility of mind goes with loftiness of character." Stone lions flank the entrance before carvings of the plum blossom, the national flower of China. The ceiling contains a coiling golden five-clawed imperial dragon surrounded by clouds denoting nature's energy and freedom. |
Painted squares portray dragons guarding the pearl of wisdom and the phoenix with the motan flower, a symbol of cultural wealth. The opened blackboard doors reveal painted renditions of the babao, or Eight Treasures, popular in Chinese art. On the base below is a carved version of the Bagua which consists of eight trigrams surrounding the circular Yin and Yang. Windows consist of frosted glass with stylized cames. Czechoslovak The Czechoslovak Classroom combines elements of a Slovak farmhouse, country church, and the Charles University in Prague while detailing men who contributed to Czechoslovak culture. The motto of the classroom, and of the former Czechoslovak government in exile, is proclaimed by the inscription of "Pravda Vítězí" which translates to "Truth Will Prevail" and surrounds a bronze relief portrait of the first President and founder of Czechoslovakia Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. |
In a wrought-iron case near the window bay, a letter penned by the hand of Masaryk to students at the University of Pittsburgh recalls John Amos Comenius' belief that "education is the workshop of humanity". All woodwork, except the furniture, is made of larch wood which grows to great heights in the Carpathian Mountains. The ceiling, with flat boards overlapping each other between heavy beams, is painted by Prague artists Karel and Marie Svolinsky and depicts botanically accurate flowers and plants of Czechoslovakia and reflects a typical Slovak farmer's home and the style of country churches. A "tree of life" design on the rear wall surrounds the text of the proclamation by King of Bohemia and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Charles IV that marked the founding of the University of Prague in 1348. |
The plaster reveals of the bay window area is decorated by murals of miraculous trees bearing flowers and fruits and harboring animals, birds, and insects reflecting "peasant writings" and executed by the artists in freehand. Ceiling panels portray eight famous persons in Czech and Slovak history from the 9th through 19th centuries including Cyril and Methodius who created the Cyrillic script, Waclaw who was the "Good King Wenceslaus" of the Christmas Carol, Jan Hus who was a champion of Czech religious freedom, John Amos Comenius who is considered the father of modern education, Jan Kollar a Slovak poet who called for Slavic unity, Ľudovít Štúr who developed the Slovak literary language, and Bishop Stefan Moyzes who pioneered popular education in Slovakia. |
Intarsia done by V. Kopka of Moravia are found on the entrance door panels and the professor's desk and lectern which depicts university academic disciplines. Embroidery, lace, Bohemian crystal, and historical documents are displayed in the wall cabinet. Early American The Early American Room is one of two display rooms not used as a functional classroom, although it is opened for guided tours. The room was commissioned by longtime University Pittsburgh trustee George Hubbard Clapp, a descendant nine generations removed from Roger Clapp, an English captain who sailed into the New England port of Hull on May 30, 1630. The kitchen-living room of the early colonists was chosen to portray the sturdy simplicity of life in America during the 1650s. |
The room's focus is a nine-foot fireplace constructed from 200-year-old handmade bricks with "fixings" of a log hook, heavy iron kettles, a spider, gridiron, longhandled waffle iron, bread shovel, skewers, ladles, and forks. A small recess in the brick wall served to bake bread. A tapered pole swings out from the end of the fireplace to be used for drying laundry or to hang a quilt to keep the cold draft from those gathered near the fire. Massive hand-hewn pine beams used in the seven-foot-high ceiling and the fireplace were collected after a careful search in Massachusetts. White pine is used for the heavy seminar table, benches, and chairs. |
Wrought-iron candelabra are hinged with clasps to hold lighting tapers. Other light fixtures are of specially designed pierced tin. The colonial-style windows were designed by glass artist Charles Connick. Decorative items include a collection of 17th- and 18th-century American coins, a working spinning wheel, and a hand-stitched sampler. The small closet between the blackboard and fireplace contains a secret panel and once the concealed latch is discovered, its release causes the wall to swing open, revealing a hidden staircase to the upper loft, which has been furnished as a 19th-century bedroom. Included in the bedroom is a four-poster rope bed and small cradle, both of which belonged to pianist and composer Ethelbert Nevin. |
The bedroom also includes several personal items, including an 1878 wedding quilt, which belonged to Waitman Worthington McDaniel and his wife Martha Jane Poe, a distant relative of Edgar Allan Poe and the grandmother of Nationality Director Maxine Bruhns. The room is associated with various stories of unexplained incidents that have resulted in claims that the room is haunted. English The English Classroom is designed in the Tudor-Gothic style after the House of Commons that was rebuilt by Sir Charles Barry following the fire of 1834. The English Classroom is the largest of the Nationality Rooms and incorporates several original items given as gifts from the British Government from the damaged House of Commons, whose Chamber was completely destroyed, following its bombing by the Luftwaffe in 1941, including the stone fireplace, hearth tiles, linenfold oak paneling, entrance doorframe, lintel, and corbels. |
The fireplace is from the Commons' "Aye Lobby", so named because members walk through it to vote "yes" to a bill, and is marked with the initials V.R. for Victoria Regina. The cast-iron fireback and andirons commemorate the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and an inscription above the fireplace is from Shakespeare's King Richard II and uses lettering adapted from the letter tiles originally designed for medieval paving by the Monks of Chertsey Abbey in Surrey. The inscription reads: "Set in the silver sea.....this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England." Above the doorway hangs a royal coat of arms made in 1688 during the reign of King James II. |
The linenfold paneling itself arrived at the University still having a blackened coat from the bombing. Under the ceiling trusses are four carved limestone corbels from the House of Commons that are carved with a Tudor rose. Two corbels remain uncarved to emphasize the original carved corbels. The window frames, set in limestone, are characteristic of the Tudor period, and contain old imported glass, seeded and tinted, and encased in small, diamond-shaped leaded frames. Stained-glass window medallions depict the coats of arms of English towns and cities, literary and political figures, scholars of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and the Houses of Lords and Commons. |
Portraits of University of Pittsburgh alumnus and former Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, Andrew Mellon, and the former Earl of Chatham, William Pitt, after whom the City was named, flank the stained glass windows in the rear bay. A brick from 10 Downing Street serves as the room's cornerstone. The white oak floor is fitted together with wooden peg dowels. Tudor-Gothic oak benches resemble the old House of Commons benches and are similarly arranged. Two English oak tables with melon-shaped legs stand before the bay. Two House of Commons Library chairs upholstered in green leather and bearing the official gold crest featuring the portcullis and crown were a gift of Lord Alfred Bossom and were rebuilt using wood from actual chairs in the bombed House of Commons. |
French The French Classroom was designed by Jacques Carlu, Director of School of Architecture in Fontainebleau, in the French Empire Period that reflects a French style inspired by the glories of the ancient and classical past that were rediscovered during the Napoleonic campaigns in Greece, Italy, and Egypt. This places the timeframe of inspiration for the classroom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, just after the founding of the University of Pittsburgh in 1787, therefore making it the only classroom which represents an era postdating the founding of the University, although many room elements are influenced by the Palace of Versailles which clearly predates it. |
The color scheme of the room is blue-gray, royal blue, and gold, which were suggested by French-American architect Paul Philippe Cret and are typical colors used at the height of the French Empire. The walls of the room are lined with wood paneling in classical proportions, and slender wall pilasters are capped with delicately carved ad gilded crowns. Carved ornaments of the Egyptian griffin and classical rosettes accentuate panel divisions. A wall cabinet containing art objects, books, and medallions balances the entrance door and maintains the room's symmetry. Crystal and metal chandeliers, which are simplified versions of those found in Palace of Versailles' Hall of Mirrors, hang from a grey plaster ceiling. |
A parquet floor pattern also reflects many rooms in the Palace of Versailles. A mahogany professor's chair and table are of the Directoire period design include bronze ornaments imported from France that are replicas of originals of Empire furniture in the Louvre. The mahogany student tablet armchairs are upholstered in royal blue. On the rear wall, a 16th-century Choufleur tapestry depicts an allegorical woodland scene including, among other animals, a unicorn which often served as a central figure in tapestries and legends from the Middle Ages. Gold damask draperies with a wreath and lyre motif add to the sense of French opulence and frame the windows which look out on the University's Heinz Memorial Chapel, itself an example of French Gothic architecture inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. |
Subsets and Splits