Diffraction Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The Photonics Explorer is an intra-curricular educational kit developed in a European project with a pan-European collaboration of over 35 teachers and science education professors. Unlike conventional educational outreach kits, the... more

The Photonics Explorer is an intra-curricular educational kit developed in a European project with a pan-European collaboration of over 35 teachers and science education professors. Unlike conventional educational outreach kits, the Photonics Explorer is specifically designed to integrate seamlessly in school curricula and enhance and complement the teaching and learning of science and optics in the classroom. The kit equips teachers with class sets of experimental components, provided within a supporting didactic framework and is designed for lower and upper secondary students (12‒18 years). The kit is provided completely free of charge to teachers in conjunction with teacher training courses. The workshop will provide an overview of the Photonics Explorer intra-curricular kit and give teachers the opportunity to work hands-on with the material and didactic content of two modules, ‘Light Signals’ (lower secondary) and ‘Diffraction and Interference’(upper secondary). We also aim to ...

Why is space 3-dimensional? The first answer to this question, entirely based on Physics, was given by Ehrenfest, in 1917, who showed that the stability requirement for n-dimensional two-body planetary system very strongly constrains... more

Why is space 3-dimensional? The first answer to this question, entirely based on Physics, was given by Ehrenfest, in 1917, who showed that the stability requirement for n-dimensional two-body planetary system very strongly constrains space dimensionality, favoring 3-d. This kind of approach will be generically called “stability postulate” throughout this paper and was shown by Tangherlini, in 1963, to be still valid in the framework of general relativity as well as for quantum mechanical hydrogen atom, giving the same constraint for spacedimensionality. In the present work, before criticizing this methodology, a brief discussion has been introduced, aimed at stressing and clarifying some general physical aspects of the problem of how to determine the number of space dimensions. Then, the epistemological consequences of Ehrenfest’s methodology are critically reviewed. An alternative procedure to get at the proper number of dimensions, in which the stability postulate (and the implici...

Visualizing Banaba: Art and Research about a Diffracted Pacific Island

In this paper, we present a new knife-edge diffraction method based on Bullington method for the terrestrial line-of-sight (LOS) paths. The diffraction loss of our new knife-edge diffraction method is compared with the results obtained... more

In this paper, we present a new knife-edge diffraction method based on Bullington method for the terrestrial line-of-sight (LOS) paths. The diffraction loss of our new knife-edge diffraction method is compared with the results obtained from the Delta-Bullington method and the measurement data existing in the literature for sample fixed terrestrial microwave line-of-sight (LOS)/ non line-of-sight (NLOS) radio links. The revised Bullington method is shown to perform significantly better than the Delta-Bullington method for both overland and coastal/overwater radio links.

This thesis consists of a series of extensive projects which aim to explore a new designer role for fashion. It is a role that experiments with how fashion can be reverse engineered, hacked, tuned and shared among many participants as a... more

This thesis consists of a series of extensive projects which aim to explore a new designer role for fashion. It is a role that experiments with how fashion can be reverse engineered, hacked, tuned and shared among many participants as a form of social activism. This ...

This article provides an affirmative feminist reading of the philosophy of Henri Bergson by reading it through the work of Karen Barad. Adopting such a diffractive reading strategy enables feminist philosophy to move beyond discarding... more

This article provides an affirmative feminist reading of the philosophy of Henri Bergson by reading it through the work of Karen Barad. Adopting such a diffractive reading strategy enables feminist philosophy to move beyond discarding Bergson for his apparent phallocentrism. Feminist philosophy finds itself double bound when it critiques a philosophy for being phallocentric, because the setup of a master narrative comes into being with the critique. By negating a gender-blind or sexist philosophy, feminist philosophy only reaffirms its parameters, and setting up a master narrative costs feminist philosophy its feminism. I thus propose and practice a different methodological starting point, one that capitalizes on ‘‘diffraction.’’ This article ex- periments with the affirmative phase in feminist philosophy prophesied by Elizabeth Grosz, among others. Working along the lines of the diffractive method, the article at the same time proposes a new reading of Bergson (as well as of Barad), a new, different metaphysics indeed, which can be specified as onto-epistemological or ‘‘new materialist.’’

This article uses an actual scholarly encounter in order to work out the feminist methodological strengths of diffraction. I meditate on the current state of affairs in contemporary theory circles, where new materialisms and OOO are... more

This article uses an actual scholarly encounter in order to work out the feminist methodological strengths of diffraction. I meditate on the current state of affairs in contemporary theory circles, where new materialisms and OOO are parting ways. In order not to meditate from a disembodied location and fall into the trap of reflection, new materialisms and OOO have been sought with/in my body, where posthuman forces rule and a generative text of Chantal Chawaf was encountered…before I knew it.

Re-turning to our experiences of putting a diffractive methodology to work ourselves, as well as engaging with the writings of Donna Haraway and Karen Barad, we produce some propositions regarding a diffractive methodology for researchers... more

Re-turning to our experiences of putting a diffractive methodology to work ourselves, as well as engaging with the writings of Donna Haraway and Karen Barad, we produce some propositions regarding a diffractive methodology for researchers to consider. Postqualitative research disrupts the idea that educationalists can be given tools or techniques to investigate the world objectively, independently and at an ontological distance from the researcher. Therefore, avoiding prescription and a rush to application, we take up Stephanie Springgay’s proposal (drawing mainly on Whitehead) to diffract a non-hierarchical list of propositions through the text that disrupt the theory/practice binary and activate a self-organising potential for adopting a diffractive methodology in research. We use a diffractive methodology (spatial and temporal), theory and practice as a way of activating experimentation with the affirmative method of diffractively reading texts, oeuvres and philosophies through one another. Propositions generated as part of a published example of a re-view of three books on posthuman non-representational research are also diffracted through the text. These two entangled ‘sets’ of propositions creatively engage with the in/determinate direction of what a diffractive methodology might look like in practice, while at the same time being cognisant of the complex discussions about the appropriateness of referring to ‘methods’ or ‘methodologies’ as human-centred activities.

In my recent philosophical writings I have been making use of the Harawayian-Baradian methodology of ‘diffractive reading’ to prevent the dialectic from slipping into my work, which would “reduce […] philosophy to interminable discussion”... more

In my recent philosophical writings I have been making use of the Harawayian-Baradian methodology of ‘diffractive reading’ to prevent the dialectic from slipping into my work, which would “reduce […] philosophy to interminable discussion” (Deleuze and Guattari [1991] 1994: 79). Diffractive reading can be said to be exemplary for the new humanities, both in terms of how the philosophical canon is dealt with (transversally) and how the humanities and the sciences are traversed in the same stroke. ‘Diffraction’ features in the philosophy of Deleuze (and Guattari) and in Deleuze scholarship alike. However, whereas this has been commented on in terms of a more conceptual engagement (what is created by the cross-over of quantum physical phenomena, [feminist] quantum physical conceptual tools, and a most general understanding of process-philosophies of becoming), so far this peculiarity hasn’t been studied or evaluated in methodological terms (what does diffraction do in, or for, Deleuze scholarship). This chapter takes up that discussion. How can Deleuze scholarship utilise the potentialities of diffraction, in particular reading diffractively, given that the methodology is currently so successfully employed in the field of Gender Studies?

This discussion paper focuses on diffraction in the work of K Barad. There are critical summaries of Barad's own work and of thirteen additional articles by followers, mostly focused on applications in Education. These diffractively... more

This discussion paper focuses on diffraction in the work of K Barad. There are critical summaries of Barad's own work and of thirteen additional articles by followers, mostly focused on applications in Education. These diffractively connect different theoretical positions, interview data, personal recollections and policy statements. The paper critically examines claims to having achieved greater openess than conventional critical approaches, and lists some 'exclusions' in the work. Particular dangers are identified -- apologetic affirmation, teleology, colonisation and relativism.

Over the past two decades sociology, including the sociology of family and personal life, has seen a ‘relational turn’ with a growing body of work seeking to explain the ‘social’ by taking social relations as the primary object of... more

Over the past two decades sociology, including the sociology of family and personal life, has seen a ‘relational turn’ with a growing body of work seeking to explain the ‘social’ by taking social relations as the primary object of sociological analyses. Relational sociologies theorise relations in social terms as either inter-actions or trans-actions. Inter-actions are relations that bring separate entities together, while trans-actions posit a relation of interdependence between entities. This article introduces a third way of conceptualising relationality as intra-actions drawing on the posthumanist relational ontology proposed by feminist philosopher and physicist Karen Barad. Intra-actions are understood as social-natural or material-discursive relations of ontological inseparability and mutual constitution. Using illustrative examples from the author’s research, the article suggests that Barad’s relational ontology offers a fruitful and distinctive ontological underpinning for relational sociology and for relational approaches to theorising and studying family practices.

Special issue: ‘Materialist Concepts.’

This practice-led PhD thesis proposes a radical reconceptualisation of painting independent of its traditional means of production: painting is the singular multiplicity of material-discursive practices cohering around ‘facing’, which... more

This practice-led PhD thesis proposes a radical reconceptualisation of painting independent of its traditional means of production: painting is the singular multiplicity of material-discursive practices cohering around ‘facing’, which names the intra-active event of ‘seeing all at once’. This and other original categorisations (such as ‘work-of-violence’, ‘painting-as-a-body’, ‘painting-for-screens’ among others) emerge from analyses of artworks that were produced either during the PhD or personally encountered. They radically reposition the artwork as an event rather than a medium and define ways in which different paintings function in terms of ‘intra-action’ and ‘diffraction’ instead of identity and reflexion. Within the consistently sensuous, non-ontological frame of ‘mattering’, such conceptual propositions are not prescriptive or totalizing. Rather, they are intended as a means for setting the images of painting and art out of equilibrium. That is, in the discontinuous/intense state from which such categories have first emerged. In this respect, the thesis structure aims at rendering the way in which artworks and arguments have cohered in an entangled singularity as research in which sense has performatively informed questions.
By focusing on a discursive method along the methodological lines of Barad, Golding, Lyotard and Stengers, the research contributes to the current debate among continental philosophy, ‘wild sciences’ and fine art by introducing conceptualisations such as ‘slowing up’, ‘artwork-in-potency’, and ‘sense of self’ (intended as the contingent pattern that implicitly embodies normality, thus making a non-directly detectable, yet grounding difference). Further contributions encompass diffractive reconceptualisations, e.g. ‘beauty’ as adequate degree of differentiation and ‘homage art’ as a methodology of art reception that is intrinsically one of art production. By moving away from the mainstream understanding of originality as creation ex nihilo and rethinking artistic agency in terms of a coincidence of care and risk-taking not belonging to the artist exclusively, the thesis offers a significant and unique contribution to methods for practice-led research and rethinks art as a non-hierarchical environment for sensuous experimentation.

Reflective practice has become a core component in higher education studies. In the health sciences, reflective tasks are required throughout the undergraduate programmes, yet many students struggle to find value in these tasks for their... more

Reflective practice has become a core component in higher education studies. In the health sciences, reflective tasks are required throughout the undergraduate programmes, yet many students struggle to find value in these tasks for their present and future professional practice. Benefits that can be derived from the process are undermined by this lack of motivation for reflective engagement. Concern around the static, contained, individualist nature of reflections that often face judgement through assessment can be addressed by opening up the process to generate new potentials. In this paper, I draw on new materialism and the Baradian (2007) philosophy of diffraction to move beyond the reflective practices of representation and sameness by affirmatively working with/through differences. I refer to data collected in an ethics approved research study at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, to explain a context of unjust practices in which students learn. I demonstrate how students' reflective texts shared online on the Google Drive platform can be productive and transformative material forces that enact new knowledge, valued by students. The apparatus of text-students-events is put to work creating new possibilities to enable a socially just pedagogy in medical education.

The “end of the World” trope can be crushingly rote in apocalyptic discourses, but its critical deployment is not, and it goes to the heart of rhetoric’s self-concept. My starting point is obvious and well-marked: world is not severable... more

The “end of the World” trope can be crushingly rote in apocalyptic discourses, but its critical deployment is not, and it goes to the heart of rhetoric’s self-concept. My starting point is obvious and well-marked: world is not severable from Man, so the end of the world is about the end of Man. Etymologically, the term “world” derives from Germanic languages and refers to the life of mankind, being a compound term of “man” and “age” with the literal meaning of “age of man.” Unsurprisingly, the “end of the world” invoked by many feminist, post-structural, and posthuman theorists, as well as by Black, decolonial, and science studies scholars is often a comment on the death of Man’s entitlement as the organizing matrix for life on earth. I’ll pull at three threads of “end of the world” troping, all of which revolve around diffracted conceptions of world and, concomitantly, humanity. Then I pose two questions raised by multi-world ontologies for the potential of humanism in rhetoric: First, how do diffracted ‘worlds’ impact rhetoric’s know-ability? Second, can co-extensive being function as an orienting heart of ‘worlds’ without contradicting a logic of diffraction?

Critical posthumanism focuses on difference, rather than identity, and queers humanist philosophy that has its roots in western metaphysics, which has had a strong humanist articulation since Descartes. Humanism centres on the autonomous... more

Critical posthumanism focuses on difference, rather than identity, and queers humanist philosophy that has its roots in western metaphysics, which has had a strong humanist articulation since Descartes. Humanism centres on the autonomous adult self as sole source of knowledge production, and instils binaries that marginalise, divide and dichotomise the 'other' in age, race, ethnicity, ability and sexuality. Postcolonial theorising interrogates these power-producing binaries, but tends to retain the dominant western ontological binary between language and reality, thereby assuming that knowledge production is always mediated through the discursive and represented in human-made languages, keeping the material world at a distance. The key question is 'What is left out, forgotten or ignored by using the discursive apparatus of the social sciences only?'. Using Karen Barad's reading of quantum physics I propose a radically different and positive philosophical orientation towards decolonisation and a 'post'colonial future through a juxtaposition of a humanist and a posthumanist analysis of a series of photos I 'made' of the Cecil Rhodes's statue before it was removed from the University of Cape Town's campus. The question what it means to decolonise a university is not only epistemological, but also ontological and can remain radically open when we view meaning making as discursive and material, thereby doing justice to the agency of the nonhuman other. Motivated by the still visible signs of colonialism and lack of transformation at the historically white University of Cape Town (UCT), on 9 March 2015 black student Chumani Maxwele scooped human excrement from a portable flush toilet in the township of Khayelitsha and smeared it on the statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes – a powerful geo-political material and discursive action. The original location of the excrement is significant. Khayelitsha is a