bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in un Peacekeeping
Authors: Neudorfer Kelly
Published: February 2025

While serving in United Nations peacekeeping missions, some peacekeepers sexually exploit and abuse the local population, a fact which erupted into a scandal published by many media outlets in 2005 and 2006. This book analyzes factors which may increase the risk of such behavior as well as measures the UN has taken which may have decreased the number of incidents. Using a mixed methods design, the book argues that previous analyses have been largely undertheorized—with the exception of gender theories—and turns to criminology to look at the phenomenon of so-called “Sexual Exploitation and Abuse” (SEA) in a new light. The three risk factors found to increase the likelihood of SEAs are an environment of sexual violence in the mission’s host country, the presence of internally displaced persons close to the mission, and a lack of supervised or regulated contact with the local population. In turn, the presence of an office whose purpose is to collect reports and investigate allegations, training on preventing SEAs for the incoming peacekeepers, and campaigns to empower the local population on these issues all seem to reduce the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse occurring. By using a statistical analysis followed by case studies of the UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and the Golan Heights, the author demonstrates the importance these factors have in the peacekeepers’ behavior on the mission, providing a solid basis upon which future policy recommendations can be made.
Historical Dictionary of Paraguay
Authors: Nickson R. Andrew
Published: February 2025

Land-locked Paraguay is one of the smaller nations of Latin America, whose global image is now changing very rapidly. In the process, the tired stereotype of a “forgotten” country comprising only military dictators, Nazis, and steam trains is being rapidly discarded. Indeed Paraguay is now no longer off the map and its unique history is attracting growing interest.

This third edition of Historical Dictionary of Paraguay covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Paraguay.
The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information
Authors: Spatz Michele
Published: February 2025

Comprised of fifteen chapters written by experienced consumer health librarians, The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information is designed for library and information science graduate students as well as librarians new to health and medical librarianship, regardless of library setting. It is comprehensive in scope, covering all aspects of consumer and patient health and medical information from their humble, grassroots beginnings to the ever-evolving applications of new technology and social media. In between, the mundane aspects of health and medical librarianship, such as needs assessment, costs, budgeting and funding, and staffing are discussed. Adding richness to this discussion are the coverage of more sensitive topics such as patient-friendly technology, ethical issues in providing consumer and patient health information, meeting the needs of diverse populations, and responding to individuals from various cultural backgrounds. No comprehensive picture of consumer and patient health librarianship would be complete without addressing the critical importance of marketing and strategic partnerships; such discussions round out this invaluable guide.

Patients today must be knowledgeable enough to participate in their health and well-being. Shorter hospital stays, changing reimbursement patterns and the gradual shift towards focusing on proactively maintaining health and managing disease require patients to be informed and actively engaged. Education, information and understanding are important components of actively-engaged patients. Correspondingly, in today’s e-world, there is a glut of information resources available through the Internet – from YouTube videos to Googling to blogs and Twitter feeds. What is lacking in these information-rich times is the relevance of meaning and context for those who ask, “Does this health and medical information apply to me and my unique clinical picture?” or “How do I use this information?” As knowledge navigators, information technology wizards and content experts, librarians offer focused responses to individuals’ specific and highly personal health and medical information queries. In a new healthcare world order of optimizing health and minimizing hospitalizations, such a service is invaluable.

Sadly, there still exists in our highly networked and technological age an information gap for those who struggle in obtaining meaningful health or medical information. These individuals may be foreign-born, non-English speaking, poor, rural, aged or semi-literate. Whatever their status, librarians must have the wherewith-all to find germane resources and also help create responsive mechanisms to bridge that health information gap for vulnerable citizens. The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information will guide you on the road to providing that response.
We Shall Overcome
Authors: Bobetsky Victor V.
Published: February 2025

“We Shall Overcome” is an American folk song that has influenced American and world history like few others. At different points in time it has served as a labor movement song, a civil rights song, a hymn, and a protest song and has long held strong individual and collective meaning for the African-American community, in particular, and the American and world communities more generally.

We Shall Overcome: Essays on a Great American Song, edited and compiled by Victor V. Bobetsky, comprises essays that explore the origins, history, and impact of this great American folk song. Inspired by a symposium of guest speakers and student choirs from the New York City Public Schools, chapters cover such critical matters as the song’s ancestry, Pete Seeger’s contribution to its popularization, the role played by the SNCC Freedom Singers in its adoption, the gospel origins and influences of the song, its adaptation by choral arrangers, its use as a teaching tool in the classroom, and its legacy among other freedom songs.

We Shall Overcome: Essays on a Great American Song constitutes an invaluable resource for the music and music education community as well as for members of the general public interested in music, education, history and the civil rights movement. The book provides readers with a wide and unique spectrum of information about the song relevant to researchers and teachers.
Reel Photos
Authors: Sterba Wendy
Published: February 2025

Even in an age when the photograph has changed from a physical object into a data file that can be easily manipulated, we tend to believe what we see. But photographs can and do lie. As an object in a film, a photograph’s meaning and function can be even more malleable and deceiving, as new developments in technology are altering how we perceive reality.

In Reel Photos: Balancing Art and Truth in Contemporary Film, Wendy Sterba examines the use of photographs in cinema to explore issues of objectivity, subjectivity, fabrication, and fact. This study first looks at the traditional use of the photograph in films such as Blow-Up and then considers similar issues as they relate to the search for truth in detective films like Along Came a Spider, The Bone Collector, and Forgotten. Subsequent chapters explore ambivalence and photographic objectification in films about art photography, including The Governess, Fur, and Closer. Other movies discussed include Inception, Paparazzi, Under Fire, and Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture.

By examining the function of the photograph in movies rather than the role of film photography as art, Sterba provides an innovative approach to cinema studies. Utilizing theory in an intelligent but easily understandable way, this book allows readers to re-examine the role of authorship and the value of authentic art. Reel Photos will appeal to students and scholars of cinema, as well as anyone interested in the aesthetics of art and truth in film.
The Global Jihad Movement
Authors: Gunaratna Rohan , Oreg Aviv
Published: February 2025

Three to four dozen international and local organizations, up to one hundred thousand individuals, and millions of supporters are part of the phenomenon of Global Jihad. The Global Jihad Movement endeavors to name and differentiate these organizations and to explain their infrastructure, operational capabilities, and activities. It also analyzes their mutual and multi-lateral relations inside and outside the “jihadi framework.” In essence, this is a “who’s who” in the Global Jihad.

The first section deals with ideology, focusing on the emergence of the Salafi and the Salafi-jihadi ideologies, which are still the most important factors behind the operational performance of Global Jihadi elements. The second section addresses the “affiliate groups” of al-Qaeda, such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and al-Qaeda in Iraq. This section focuses mainly on the groups that adopted al-Qaeda’s Global Jihad strategy by incorporating Western targets in their vicinity of operations in their targeting policies. The next section discusses the different jihad arenas that have emerged over the last three decades, absorbing jihadi fighters from Islamic communities around the world. Finally, tThe last section examines the long process of radicalization, from regular and normative lifestyle patterns to the final jihadi stage—which in many cases involves martyrdom as suicide bombers in the name of radical Islam.
Orientalism and the Operatic World
Authors: Tarling Nicholas
Published: February 2025

Western opera is a globalized and globalizing phenomenon and affords us a unique opportunity for exploring the concept of “orientalism,” the subject of literary scholar Edward Said’s modern classic on the topic. Nicholas Tarling’s Orientalism and the Operatic World places opera in the context of its steady globalization over the past two centuries. In this important survey, Tarling first considers how the Orient appears on the operatic stage in Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States before exploring individual operas according to the region of the “Orient” in which the work is set.

Throughout, Tarling offers key insights into such notable operas as George Frideric Handel’s Berenice, Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, Giacomo Puccini’s MadamaButterfly, Pietro Mascagni’s Iris, and others. Orientalism and the Operatic World argues that any close study of the history of Western opera, in the end, fails to support the notion propounded by Said that Westerners inevitably stereotyped, dehumanized, and ultimately sought only to dominate the East through art. Instead, Tarling argues that opera is a humanizing art, one that emphasizes what humanity has in common by epic depictions of passion through the vehicle of song.

Orientalism and the Operatic World is not merely for opera buffs or even first-time listeners. It should also interest historians of both the East and West, scholars of international relations, and cultural theorists.
Freedom in the World 2014
Authors:   Freedom House
Published: February 2025

Freedom in the World, the Freedom House flagship survey whose findings have been published annually since 1972, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The survey ratings and narrative reports on 195 countries and fourteen territories are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide.

The Freedom in the World political rights and civil liberties ratings are determined through a multi-layered process of research and evaluation by a team of regional analysts and eminent scholars. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information, including foreign and domestic news reports, academic studies, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region, in conducting their research. The methodology of the survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.
Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre
Authors: Senelick Laurence
Published: February 2025

A latecomer continually hampered by government control and interference, the Russian theatre seems an unlikely source of innovation and creativity. Yet, by the middle of the nineteenth century, it had given rise to a number of outstanding playwrights and actors, and by the start of the twentieth century, it was in the vanguard of progressive thinking in the realms of directing and design. Its influence throughout the world was pervasive: Nikolai Gogol', Anton Chekhov and Maksim Gor'kii remain staples of repertories in every language, the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavskii, Vsevolod Meierkhol'd and Mikhail Chekhov continue to inspire actors and directors, while designers still draw on the graphics of the World of Art group and the Constructivists. What distinguishes Russian theater from almost any other is the way in which these achievements evolved and survived in ongoing conflict or cooperation with the State.

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre covers the history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on individual actors, directors, designers, entrepreneurs, plays, playhouses and institutions, Censorship, Children’s Theater, Émigré Theater, and Shakespeare in Russia. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian Theatre.
Historical Dictionary of Japanese Foreign Policy
Authors: Shimamoto Mayako , Ito Koji , Sugita Yoneyuki
Published: February 2025

The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Foreign Policy covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Japanese Foreign Policy.
Spirituality in Young Adult Literature
Authors: Campbell Patty
Published: February 2025

In a time when almost any gritty topic can be featured in a young adult novel, there is one subject that is avoided by writers and publishers. Faith and belief in God seldom appear in traditional form in novels for teens. The lack of such ideas in mainstream adolescent literature can be interpreted by teens to mean that these matters are not important. Yet a significant part of growing up is struggling with issues of spirituality. The underlying problem, of course, is that there are so few writers who are willing to talk to teenagers about God, even indirectly, or who themselves have the religious literacy for the task.

Spirituality in Young Adult Literature: The Last Taboo tackles a subject rarely portrayed in fiction aimed at teens. In this volume, Patty Campbell examines not only realistic fiction, but young adult literature that deals with mysticism, apocalyptical end times, and even YA novels that depict the Divine Encounter. Campbell maintains that fantasy works are inherently spiritual, because the plots nearly always progress toward a showdown between good and evil. As such, the author surmises that the popularity of fantasy among teens may represent their interest in the mystical dimensions of faith and the otherworldly. In this study, Campbell examines works of fiction that express perspectives from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. Distinguished YA novelist Chris Crowe provides a chapter on Mormon values and Mormon YA authors and how their novels integrate those values into their books.

By looking at how spirituality is represented in novels aimed at teens, this book asks what progress, if any, has been made in slaying the taboo. Although most of the books discussed in this study are recent, an appendix lists YA books from 1967 to the present that have dealt with issues of faith. A timely look at an important subject, Spirituality in Young Adult Literature will be of interest to young adult librarians, junior and senior high school teachers, and students and instructors of college courses in adolescent literature, as well as to parents of teens.
Chinese Strategy and Military Modernization in 2015
Authors: Cordesman Anthony H. , Colley Steven
Published: February 2025

China’s emergence as a global economic superpower, and as a major regional military power in Asia and the Pacific, has had a major impact on its relations with the United States and its neighbors. China was the driving factor in the new strategy the United States announced in 2012 that called for a “rebalance” of U.S. forces to the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, China’s actions on its borders, in the East China Sea, and in the South China Sea have shown that it is steadily expanding its geopolitical role in the Pacific and having a steadily increasing impact on the strategy and military developments in other Asian powers.
Iran in a Reconnecting Eurasia
Authors: Milani Mohsen
Published: February 2025

Iran in a Reconnecting Eurasia examines the full scope of Iranian national interests in the South Caucasus and Central Asia and analyzes the broad outlines of Iranian engagement over the coming years. It is part of a six-part CSIS series, “Eurasia from the Outside In,” which includes studies focusing on Turkey, the European Union, Iran, India, Russia, and China.
State and Market in Contemporary China
Authors: Kennedy Scott
Published: February 2025

The short essays in this volume, contributed by leading experts on Chinese economic policy, provide crisp and insightful analyses of the Chinese state's approach toward markets, the role of key actors and institutions, the evolving nature of industrial policy and the effectiveness of China’s international commitments to constrain such practices, and a preview of the likely contents and significance of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan.
Madam C. J. Walker
Authors: Ball Erica L.
Published: February 2025

"[An] exhaustively detailed account of the life of Madam C.J. Walker." Booklist, Starred Review

Madam C. J. Walker—reputed to be America’s first self-made woman millionaire—has long been celebrated for her rags-to-riches story. Born to former slaves in the Louisiana Delta in the aftermath of the Civil War, married at fourteen, and widowed at twenty, Walker spent the first decades of her life as a laundress, laboring in conditions that paralleled the lives of countless poor and working-class African American women. By the time of her death in 1919, however, Walker had refashioned herself into one of the most famous African American figures in the nation: the owner and president of a hair-care empire and a philanthropist wealthy enough to own a country estate near the Rockefellers in the prestigious New York town of Irvington-on-Hudson. In this biography, Erica Ball places this remarkable and largely forgotten life story in the context of Walker’s times. Ball analyzes Walker’s remarkable acts of self-fashioning, and explores the ways that Walker (and the Walker brand) enabled a new generation of African Americans to bridge the gap between a nineteenth-century agrarian past and a twentieth-century future as urban-dwelling consumers.
Historical Dictionary of the Dirty Wars
Authors: Kohut David , Vilella Olga
Published: February 2025

The Historical Dictionary of the Dirty Wars coversthe period 1954–1990 in South America, when authoritarian regimes waged war on subversion, both real and imagined. The term “dirty war” (guerra sucia), though originally associated with the military dictatorship in Argentina from 1976 to 1983, has since been applied to neighboring dictatorships in Paraguay (1954–1989), Brazil (1964–1985), Bolivia (1971–1981), Uruguay (1973–1985), and Chile (1973–1990). Although the concept is by no means peculiar to Latin America—the term has become a byword for state-sponsored repression anywhere in the world—these regimes were among its most notorious practitioners. In the mid-1970s they joined forces—along with Ecuador and Peru—to create Operation Condor, a top-secret network of military dictatorships that kidnapped, tortured, and disappeared one another’s political opponents. Their death squads operated both nationally and internationally, sometimes beyond the region.

This third edition of Historical Dictionary of the Dirty Wars contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on the countries themselves; guerrilla and political movements that provoked (though by no means exonerated) governmental reaction; leading guerrilla, human-rights, military, and political figures; local, regional, and international human-rights organizations; expressions of cultural resistance (art, film, literature, music, and theater); and artistic figures (filmmakers, novelists, and playwrights) whose works attempted to represent or resist the period of repression. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the dirty wars of South America
Transforming Student Travel
Authors: Brenner Faye
Published: February 2025

Transforming Student Travel calls for a paradigm shift in the student tour industry: educators collaborating to create a student-centered, inquiry-based tour. Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” This resource guide explores ways educators can encourage students not only to see with “new eyes,” but also to understand how they know.

The International Baccalaureate informs the first part of the book which includes educational research as well as practical suggestions for improving the tour experience, including an integration of academic subjects. Although much has been written about the impact of international travel, this book explores ways educators can transform domestic tours for public and parochial school students.

The second part of the book offers resource guides for four cities – Washington, D.C.; New York; Philadelphia; and Boston. Teachers, tour directors, and tour operators, will find discussion questions activities as well as detailed background information for four of the most visited cities by students. Many of the questions and strategies can be adapted for other landscapes.
Half an Inch from the Edge
Authors: Borrero Noah , Camangian Patrick Roz , Ayers Richard , Hannegan-Martinez Sharim , Flores Esther
Published: February 2025

Half an Inch from the Edge: Teacher Education, Teaching, and Student Learning for Social Transformation is a book about the tensions and opportunities reflected in today’s public school classrooms in the U.S. Through detailed case studies of four classrooms, the authors explore socially transformative pedagogy in action. The result is a narrative that intertwines a critical social analysis of our educational system with real-life examples from K-12 classrooms. The four teachers highlighted in the book are new, urban, socially-conscious educators of Color who strive to make their classrooms something new and something different—spaces where youth can learn about and express their own cultural identities as a part of the curriculum.

These stories are told through the creation, implementation, analysis, and assessment of teachers’ action research projects as they complete their Masters degrees and begin their first years as full-time teachers. Central to each of the case studies—which span multiple grade levels and content areas—is a focus on self-reflection, a deep desire to build meaningful relationships with students, and a quest to make learning relevant to students’ lived experiences. Also painfully clear is the role of failure, and the tremendous creativity, ingenuity, and persistence of these new teachers, as they learn alongside their students and together fight the injustices inherent in their schools, districts, and the national system of education. Ultimately, the portraits of these teachers show that amidst all of the forces working against them and their students, there is hope—hope that the great experiment of American public education can transform into a system that serves all students.
Teaching with Compassion
Authors: Kaufman Peter , Schipper Janine
Published: February 2025

In a world where students are often seen as test scores and not as human beings, where their well-being is challenged by poverty, intolerance, and bullying, and where technological innovations frequently erode genuine personal contact, compassionate teachers are needed more than ever.

Teaching with Compassion offers practical tools and strategies designed to help educators foster a culture of care and compassion. Organized around an eight-point “Teaching with Compassion Oath,” this book draws on real life examples and exercises to demonstrate the power and potential of teaching from the heart. Written for both experienced and novice educators alike, Teaching with Compassion is sure to stimulate inquiry and provide ongoing inspiration.
Teaching through Challenges for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)
Authors: Burrell Storms Stephanie L. , Donovan Sarah K. , Williams Theodora P.
Published: February 2025

Colleges and universities cannot ignore the increasingly diverse student population in their classrooms, and how a focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion across disciplines trains students in the intercultural awareness they will need in competitive job markets. Yet while faculty may be aware of a need to understand EDI goals in relationship to their disciplines, and institutions may support EDI in theory, the onus of pedagogical training in EDI often falls on individual faculty. This book was written by faculty and administrators for educators who value the goals of EDI, and seek an intellectual community to help them develop their practice. Important to this book is an honest discussion of common challenges faculty may face when they engage in this difficult work, and effective strategies for addressing those challenges. The chapters are grouped according to six different themes: respect for divergent learning styles; inclusion and exclusion; technology and social action; affective considerations; reflection for critical consciousness; and safe spaces and resistance.
Turning the Page
Authors: Slaughter Rachel
Published: February 2025

There is a dearth of multicultural literature in schools since few schools offer a curriculum that promotes multicultural education. However, by the year 2050, ethnic minority children will make up the majority of the United States public school classrooms. Multicultural literature is the building block of a multicultural education which reflects our nation’s diversity and helps all students learn by providing help to bridge the cultural gap, and promote racial awareness.

Teachers often find it difficult to identify or find quality multicultural literature that adheres to the standard curriculum. Turning the Page: The Ultimate Guide for Teachers to Multicultural Literature helps educators find and evaluate multicultural books that are suitable for the classroom and align with the standard curriculum. The book includes a peer-reviewed metric that shows teachers how to substitute biased books with multicultural literature that endorse the same themes. Second, the book includes reviews, lesson plans, and curated book lists of multicultural books. Finally, the book offers a stepwise plan on how to create a task force of school stakeholders who can implement a comprehensive, multicultural program. In 2018, The National Association for Multicultural Education released standards for multicultural education to encourage school staff to become culturally competent and linguistically diverse. Turning the Page: The Ultimate Guide for Teachers to Multicultural Literature moves educators in that direction.
Honoring Identities
Authors: Miller Donna L.
Published: February 2025

Honoring Identities argues that creating culturally responsive learning communities is a process which begins with building community, cultivating certain student and teacher dispositions, nurturing social justice, leveraging the power of talk and dialogic exchange, using Cultural Identity Literature (CIL) to build bridges and to normalize difference, and fostering a culture of civil discourse. Honoring Identities provides both theory and practice to advance the important mission of building culturally responsive mindsets and to ensure that all students feel like they have a place at the learning table. CIL reflects and honors the lives of all young people, and GREEN APPLE questions focus their reading on key facets of identity, multiplying the effectiveness of the reading experience. GREEN APPLE questions also provide a lens for anyone else wishing to select CIL. The questions not only illuminate different perspectives of a text but make readers aware that individual experiences color the reading of a text.
Culture and the Cuban State
Authors: Grenier Yvon
Published: February 2025

Culture and the Cuban State examines the politics of culture in communist Cuba. It focuses on cultural policy, censorship, and the political participation of artists, writers and academics such as Tania Bruguera, Jesús Díaz, Rafael Hernández, Kcho, Reynier Leyva Novo, Leonardo Padura, and José Toirac. The cultural field is important for the reproduction of the regime in place, given its pretense and ambition to be eternally “revolutionary” and to lead a genuine “cultural revolution”. Cultural actors must be mobilized and handled with care, given their presumed disposition to speak their mind and to cherish their autonomy. This book argues that cultural actors also seek recognition by the main (for a long time the only) sponsor and patron of the art in Cuba: the “curator state”. The “curator state” is also a “gatekeeper state,” arbitrarily and selectively opening and closing the space for public expression and for access to foreign currencies and the global market. The time when everything was either mandatory or forbidden is over in Cuba. The regime seems to have learned from egregious mistakes that led to a massive exodus of artists, writers and academics. In a country where things change so everything could stay the same, the controlled opening in the cultural field, playing on the actors' ambition and fear, illuminates a broader phenomenon: the evolving rules of the political game in the longest standing dictatorship of the hemisphere.
The Religion of White Supremacy in the United States
Authors: Weed Eric
Published: February 2025

On January 20th, 2009, the United States entered a new era in terms of race relations in the country. The hopes of many Americans were not to be fulfilled and many believe race relations are worse now. The reason is the legacy of race is integral to the American nation. The Religion of White Supremacy in the United States traces this legacy to show how race is defined by more than beliefs or acts of injustice. What this book reveals is that white supremacy is a religion in the United States. This book is a theo-historical account of race in the United States that argues that white supremacy functions through the Protestant Christian tradition. The Religion of White Supremacy in the United States is an interdisciplinary work of Critical Whiteness Studies, American History, and Theology to build a narrative in which the religion of white supremacy dominates U.S. culture and society. In this way, the racial tensions during the Obama era become sensible and inevitable in a nation that finds ultimacy in white supremacy.
The Maritime Silk Road and Cultural Communication Between China and the West
Authors: Chen Yan
Published: February 2025

This translation of collected articles by Yan Chen (1916–2016) examines the role of the Maritime Silk Road in the formation of world civilizations. Analyzing the Maritime Silk Road’s political, economic, cultural, and technological influence, Chen argues that this expansive trade network was vital to the spread of traditional Chinese culture.
Negotiating Group Identities in Multicultural Germany
Authors: Abadi David
Published: February 2025

This book scrutinizes the media portrayals of (ethnic/religious) minorities in Germany, encompassing the fields of public affairs, media effects, political communication, multiculturalism, populism in the media and politicized uses of collective identities. It compares the political discourse (Bundestag plenary protocols) with the mainstream discourse (mainstream press) in Germany over the sample period of 2009-2015, and explores a multi-layered debate from different perspectives by combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Moreover, this research intends to detect, analyze and connect the dots between recurrent themes, news stories, actors, events and ideologies within the delicate debate on minorities in Germany’s multicultural society. The mixed-methods approach includes content analysis, template analysis, relational discourse analysis, latent class cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression. The interdisciplinary approach of this research presents various aspects of social sciences, such as media and communication studies (agenda-setting theory), social psychology (social-identity theory), media sociology (discursive power), political science (right-wing populism) and anthropology (race and ethnicity). This extensive research is meant to contribute to existing political efforts and academic studies, in order to fully grasp the dynamics of German immigration and integration policies.
Zen Terror in Prewar Japan
Authors: Victoria Brian Daizen
Published: February 2025

Written by a Zen priest, this book explodes the myth of Zen Buddhism as a peaceful religion.

Can Buddhism, widely regarded as a religion of peace, also contribute to acts of terrorism? Through an insider’s view of right-wing ultranationalism in prewar Japan, this powerful book follows a band of Zen Buddhist–trained adherents who ardently believed so. Brian Victoria, himself a Zen priest, tells the story of a group of terrorists who were responsible for the assassination of three leading political and economic figures in 1932.

Victoria provides a detailed introduction to the religious as well as political significance of the group’s terrorist beliefs and acts, focusing especially on the life and times of the band’s leader, Inoue Nisshō. A deeply troubled youth, Inoue became a spy in Manchuria for the Japanese Army in 1909, where he encountered Zen for the first time. When he returned to Japan in 1921, he determined to resolve his deep spiritual discontent through meditation practice, which culminated in an enlightenment experience that resolved his long-term doubts.After engaging in “post-enlightenment training” under the guidance of Rinzai Zen master Yamamoto Gempō, Inoue began a program of training the “patriotic youth” who formed the nucleus of his terrorist band.

After the assassinations, Inoue and his band were sentenced to life imprisonment, only to be released just a few years later in 1940. Almost unbelievably, Inoue then became the live-in confidant of Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro, a position he held through the end of WWII. In the postwar era, Inoue reinvented himself again as the founder and head of yet another band of ultranationalists known as the “National Protection Corps.” His eventful life came to an end in 1967.

Victoria concludes with an assessment of the profound impact of the assassinations, which culminated in Japan’s transformation into a totalitarian state and set the stage for Pearl Harbor. The author also examines the connection of Buddhism to terrorism more broadly, considering the implications for today’s Islamic-related terrorism.
Surviving the Forgotten Genocide
Authors: Minassian John
Published: February 2025

A rare and poignant testimony of a survivor of the Armenian genocide.

The twentieth century was an era of genocide, which started with the Turkish destruction of more than one million Armenian men, women, and children—a modern process of total, violent erasure that began in 1895 and exploded under the cover of the First World War. John Minassian lived through this as a young man, witnessing the murder of his kin, concealing his identity as an orphan and laborer in Syria, and eventually immigrating to the United States to start his life anew. A rare testimony of a survivor of the Armenian genocide, one of just a handful of accounts in English, Minassian’s memoir is breathtaking in its vivid portraits of Armenian life and culture and poignant in its sensitive recollections of the many people who harmed and helped him. As well as a searing testimony, his memoir documents the wartime policies and behavior of Ottoman officials and their collaborators; the roles played by foreign armies and American missionaries; and the ultimate collapse of the empire. The author’s journey, and his powerful story of perseverance, despair, and survival, will resonate with readers today.
Agile Circularity: Reactive Scheduling Approaches
Authors: Attila Bakon Krisztián
Published: February 2025

Reactive scheduling is essential for optimizing resource flows in the circular economy. This chapter explores agile scheduling strategies that enable real-time adaptation to disruptions and changes, ensuring efficient utilization of materials and minimizing waste. By leveraging dynamic resource allocation and closed-loop systems, organizations can build resilient supply chains capable of responding to evolving market demands and sustainability requirements. Key topics include supply chain agility, sustainable operations management, and material flow optimization techniques tailored for circular business models. The chapter provides practical insights and case studies demonstrating the benefits of reactive scheduling in driving the transition toward a more sustainable, circular future.
Positive Psychotherapy: A Transcultural Approach to Psychotherapy for the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Marseille Andre
Published: February 2025

In the context of globalization’s transformative effects on culture, which often engender heightened anxiety and fear, therapists must delve deeply into their clients’ cultural backgrounds. This exploration must extend beyond surface-level discussions of multicultural issues such as race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, anxiety, and religion. Instead, therapists should investigate how the intersectionality of these factors shapes their clients’ identities and influences the values and meanings they derive from their experiences. Given the frequent media coverage of existential crises in our rapidly evolving world, an existential cross-cultural approach to therapy is increasingly relevant. This book chapter introduces Positive Psychotherapy as a new, innovative therapy approach for transcultural use. Positive Psychotherapy, introduced by Peseschkian in 1977 and translated into English in 1987, emphasizes concrete human experiences by focusing on “positive” or “positivus” principles, distinguishing it from other therapeutic approaches. This article explores the rationale for adopting Positive Psychotherapy to address the complexities of modern therapeutic needs.
Robust Flat Filtering DSP-Based Control of the Buck-Boost Power Converter
Authors: Linares-Flores Jesús , Hernández-Méndez Arturo , Antonio Juárez-Abad José , Mino-Aguilar Gerardo , Fermi Guerrero-Castellanos José , Ardul Muñoz Hernández Germán , Arriaga-Arriaga Cesar
Published: February 2025

The chapter deals with designing and implementing a flat filter regulation digital controller for a buck-boost DC-DC power converter. A highly perturbed, switched buck-boost power converter circuit is shown to be efficiently controlled in a regulation task for its non-minimum phase output using a suitable linear filter, addressed to as a flat filter. The flat filter control method is calculated from a transfer function, as in adaptive filtering control theory. It uses integral reconstructors regarding the input and output and finally employs partial state dynamics. Flat filtering is a natural, robust version of generalized proportional integral control (GPIC), by which the effects of arbitrary time-varying exogenous disturbances, unknown endogenous nonlinearities, and unmodeled dynamics can be jointly attenuated in a conceptually similar fashion to observer-based active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) and algebraic identification-based model-free control (MFC) but: a) without using linear extended state observers and b) respecting the original system order in a time-varying simplified model, while avoiding algebraic estimation techniques. The proposed control technique is implemented on the TMS320F28335 digital signal processor chip, with tests employing realistic simulations and an experimental setup.
Recognizing Symptom Evolution in Bipolar Disorder in Aging Individuals
Authors: Harmancı Pınar
Published: February 2025

This chapter explains the evolution of the symptoms of aging individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD). It is believed that understanding the common organic outcomes of aging individuals diagnosed with BD, especially their symptoms differentiating along with their neuroprogression, in addition to their age, sex, and other personal characteristics, will not only play a positive role in the development of treatment options and algorithms but also contribute to care processes. It is also worth noting that the literature is far from being interested in this topic, and certain research groups have focused on the neuroprogression of BD and changes in brain structures on structural changes. However, in a few decades, we may encounter transformations in the symptoms of aging individuals with BD and treatment options that can no longer keep up with these changes. It does not seem possible to understand a process like BD, which is characterized by fluctuations in mood, merely based on organic outcomes. Nevertheless, understanding how the brain experiences the effects of BD with aging and being able to distinguish this situation from the typical developmental aging process may help us manage the symptoms of individuals with BD, whose numbers are expected to increase in aging societies.
Against the Principle of Oppression: Literature and Resistance in the Prose of Graciliano Ramos
Authors: Roberto Ramos Paulo
Published: February 2025

Barren Lives and São Bernardo, novels by Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos, critically examine the violent structures of oppression embedded in Brazilian society. Through his incisive realism, Graciliano exemplifies a literary response that aligns with Walter Benjamin’s challenge to interpret history against the grain. In both works, the characters struggle against the harshness of nature and the oppressive social forces that define their existence. Barren Lives traces the plight of a displaced family enduring their “via crucis” across the drought-stricken landscapes of Brazil’s Northeast. In São Bernardo, the narrative revolves around Paulo Honório, an authoritarian figure who objectifies those around him, reducing them to mere instruments of profit, thus denying their intrinsic humanity.
An X Study of the Evolution of COVID-19-Related Sentiments in the UK
Authors: A. Palomino Marco , Allen Rohan , Padmanabhan Varma Aditya
Published: February 2025

An outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 caused the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020. As the emergency escalated, the WHO declared it a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, triggering a parallel outbreak of fear and depression throughout the world, which negatively impacted the wellbeing of the public and healthcare workers alike. While helping to accelerate mental health diagnoses, we explored the use of sentiment analysis, a powerful tool for understanding opinions. We developed a machine learning classifier to detect depression, a common COVID-19-related mood disorder. To examine the shifting emotional landscape of the public discourse surrounding COVID-19, we studied two X—formerly known as Twitter—collections: one from 2020 and another one from 2022. We complemented our work with the utilisation of an off-the-shelf classifier and concluded that, over a span of two years—between 2020 and 2022—fear was the most dominant emotion attached to COVID-19 and depression the most dominant mood. Our practical insights can help to design strategic choices concerning the wellbeing of people worldwide.
A Comprehensive Review of Breast Cancer and the Latest Advancement in Diagnosis and Treatment
Authors: Subhy Alsheikhly Ahmed , Ahmed Subhy Alsheikhly Mazin
Published: February 2025

Breast cancer, a significant global health challenge, remains a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, necessitating comprehensive strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship care. Early detection through modalities such as mammography, ultrasound, MRI, and tissue sampling is crucial. Genetic testing, on the other hand, identifies hereditary risks. Tissue sampling and biopsy provide a definitive histopathologic diagnosis. Breast cancer care aims to diagnose timely and achieve optimal outcomes while preserving quality of life. Surgical approaches remain integral to treatment, with options ranging from breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) to mastectomy based on tumor stage, size, and patient preference. Oncoplastic breast surgery combines oncologic resection with plastic surgical techniques to optimize esthetic outcomes without compromising cancer control. Breast reconstruction, using autologous tissue or implants, further enhances physical and psychological recovery. Surgical approaches often precede adjuvant therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone therapy, which aim to reduce the risk of recurrence and improve survival rates. Prognosis varies based on factors such as tumor stage, grade, hormone-receptor status, and involvement of lymph nodes. Disparities in care exist based on factors such as socioeconomic status, race, and geographic location, affecting access to quality treatment and impacting prognosis. Ongoing research focuses on improving diagnostic accuracy, innovations in surgical techniques and systemic therapies, developing personalized therapies, and addressing healthcare inequities to improve outcomes for all women with breast cancer. This review highlights the importance of a holistic approach in optimizing outcomes and survivorship for patients with breast cancer.