bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fannie Lou Hamer
Authors: Brooks Maegan Parker
Published: December 2024

"[T]his is a testimonial to a courageous woman and her deep commitment to human rights." Booklist, Starred Review •

An accessible biography of Fannie Lou Hamer that reveals pivotal moments within a remarkable life that spanned 59 tumultuous years in the history of American race relations.

In 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer delivered a heart-wrenching testimony before the Democratic National Convention’s (DNC) Credentials Committee. In this speech, Hamer represented both the concerns of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and the limits of American democracy when she proclaimed: “I question America. Is this the land of the free and the home of the brave where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily? Because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?”

This is the speech that sent President Lyndon B. Johnson into a state of outright panic, as he diverted the media’s attention away from Hamer’s stinging indictment of the nation he led. This is the speech that left most Credentials Committee members in tears, forced Johnson to negotiate with the MFDP, and compelled the Democratic Party to vow they would never again seat a segregated delegation. And this is the speech that television networks, made wise to Johnson’s diversionary tactics, replayed during their evening programs, thereby bringing Fannie Lou Hamer into the living rooms of Americans across the nation.

As significant as the 1964 DNC speech is, this book will underscore that Hamer’s testimony was but one moment within a remarkable life that spanned fifty-nine tumultuous years in the history of American race relations. For the first forty-four years of her life, Hamer lived on sharecropping plantations, all the while learning life lessons from her family, the Black Baptist religious tradition, and from the oppressive white supremacist mores surrounding her. Once Hamer’s life path intersected with the mid-century Civil Rights Movement, she spent fifteen years (1962-1977) traveling from the South to the North—and even to the West Coast of Africa—advocating civil rights, economic justice, and interracial cooperation. Hamer shared the platform with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, who introduced her to an audience in Harlem as “the country’s number one freedom fighting woman.” This accessible biography will enrich public memory about Hamer by telling not only the significant story of her riveting testimony, but also by recounting a life filled with triumphs, tragedies, and accompanying lessons for contemporary audiences.
They Left It All Behind
Authors: Hahn Hannah
Published: December 2024

Trauma was a potent influence in the lives of pre-1924 Eastern European Jewish immigrants. They uprooted themselves because of grinding poverty, anti-Semitic discrimination, pogroms, and the violence of World War I. This book’s psychoanalytically-informed life stories, based on 22 in-depth interviews with the immigrants’ adult children, tell the tales of these immigrants and their children.

Many of the children believed their parents had left their lives in Eastern Europe behind them. This disavowal—aided by the immigrants’ silence and denial—allowed their children to minimize the trauma and loss their parents suffered both before and after immigrating. I analyze the impact of parental trauma and loss on the second generation.

Trauma and loss affected the transmission of memory, and, consequently, often immigrants’ recollections were not passed on to future generations. The topics of trauma and loss in the lives of Eastern European immigrants are relevant in understanding current immigrants to America.

Often immigrants’ children tried to repay the debt that they felt was incurred by their parents’ sacrifices. Resilience, accomplishment, and their transition from their immigrant parents’ world to their own full participation in the American milieu characterized the adult lives of the immigrants’ children.
Singing in Mandarin
Authors: Chu Katherine , Petrus Juliet
Published: December 2024

Access audio files at:https://soundcloud.com/k-chu-j-petrus/sets/singing-in-mandarin-recorded

The success of Chinese artists internationally across many art forms has focused the world's attention on the developing cultural phenomenon in China, an emerging stage for the vocal arts. As one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, Mandarin is poised to become the next addition to lyric languages. Singing in Mandarin: A Guide to Chinese Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire is a comprehensive guide to unlocking the mysteries of Chinese contemporary vocal literature.

In part one, Chu and Petrus focus on diction and language, providing detailed descriptions and exercises for creating the sounds of the language. They take a uniquely systematic approach, fusing together best practices from international music conservatories for diction study, with those for Chinese language learning. Part two outlines the historical context of Chinese vocal literature, chronicling the development of the language and its repertoire over the last one hundred years. Audio files narrated by native speakers demonstrating the sounds are also included.

Singing in Mandarin provides guidance for both novices and those with previous experience singing or speaking Mandarin and is the first book of its kind to help bring the fascinating and previously inaccessible treasure of Chinese vocal music to Western audiences.
Museum Diplomacy
Authors: Smith Sarah E.K. , Priewe Sascha
Published: December 2024

Museum diplomacy has come to new prominence in the contemporary moment. Museums have increasingly global agendas, advancing diverse international partnerships across the world. Moreover, they hold the potential to advance cross-cultural education and foster mutual understanding at a moment when we are beset by global challenges. Acknowledging the troubled histories of these institutions and their contested status, Museum Diplomacy: How Cultural Institutions Shape Global Engagement recognizes the pivotal contributions of museums’ global work, while also grappling with the significant issues, questions and possibilities that these activities raise. The collection features examinations of museum diplomacy by fifteen leading scholars and museum practitioners. These texts address global case studies that speak to museum practices related to objects, collections, and people, and charting foundational concepts and ideas. Taken as a whole, the book provides contemporary examples, grounded in historic context, along with provocations and explorations of best practices, providing points for reflection along with guidance for practitioners and scholars alike. Through these wide-ranging contributions, Museum Diplomacy also contributes a new understanding of cultural diplomacy that recognizes the vital diplomatic work of curators, museum administrators, and other museum professionals, as well as how these practitioners exert their own agency in ways that may or may not align with broader government and institutional agendas. Ultimately, Museum Diplomacy calls on the sector to rethink their perceptions of cultural diplomacy and embrace an expansive understanding of the diplomatic practitioner.
One in a Billion
Authors: Pine Nancy
Published: December 2024

This heart-wrenching story immerses readers in the dramatic survival of one outspoken man who illuminates the souls of a billion ordinary Chinese citizens. An Wei—a stubborn, hardworking peasant who has lived by his values and stood up for his convictions­—has succeeded against all odds in the authoritarian environment of China. Despite grinding poverty, hunger, reeducation campaigns, and attacks from jealous peers, An Wei continues to inspire with his daring achievements, such as launching a democratic congress in his own village. His compelling life provides a vivid backdrop for understanding the development of modern China from the unique perspective of an outspoken citizen. Through his audacious determination and survival skills forged in rural poverty, An Wei’s unstoppable drive to improve himself and rural China will captivate and enthrall readers. Her website can be found at https://nancypine.info/
Changing European Visions of Disaster and Development
Authors: Pupavac Vanessa , Pupavac Mladen
Published: December 2024

Goethe’s 1832 poem Faust offers a vision of humanity realising freedom and prosperity through transcending natural adversity. Changing European Visions of Disaster and Development returns to Faust as a way of exploring the rise and fall of European humanist aspirations to build free and prosperous national political communities protected from natural disasters.

Faust stories emerged in early modern Europe linked to the shaking of the traditional religious and political order, and the pursuit of new areas of human knowledge and activity which led to a shift from viewing disasters as acts of God to acts of nature. Faust’s dam building and land reclamation project in Goethe’s poem was inspired by Dutch hydro-engineering and in turn inspired others. Faustian dreams of an engineered future were pursued by the American Yugoslav inventor Nikola Tesla and the country of his birth towards establishing its national independence and escaping the fate of being a borderland.

Faust remains a compelling reference point to explore European visions of disaster and development. If Faust captured the European spirit of earlier centuries, what is today’s outlook? Ambitious Faustian development visions to eradicate natural disasters have been replaced by anti-Faustian risk cosmopolitanism sceptical towards human activity in ways counter to building collective protection from disaster. Tesla’s country of birth fears returning to being an insecure borderland of Europe. This powerful and timely book calls for a rekindling of European humanism and Faust’s vision of ‘free people standing on free land’.
When Divorces Fail
Authors: Leonoff Arthur
Published: December 2024

This book provides a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the origin and the root causes of high-conflict divorce. Through rich case studies, the author points the way toward remediation and makes specific recommendations for the legal and mental health professions. Counselors, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, lawyers, and judges who regularly contend with high-conflict divorce will benefit from drawing from this new approach in their practice.
W. E. B. Du Bois, Ethiopianism, and Black Internationalism
Authors: Rose Ras Wayne A.
Published: December 2024

Scholarship on Black internationalism has experienced a revival. Whilst this scholarship has increasingly turned towards examining Du Bois’s thoughts on the “color line” in a global rather than national context, none do so by centering his Ethiopian-centered perspective. This book provides an examination of Du Bois’s efforts to link African Americans, Afro-Caribbean, and the Pan African project to Ethiopia as a response to the emerging question of Black historical identity.

For Du Bois, Ethiopia, Ethiopian history, and its monarchial leadership were essential to resolving the global problem of the “color line”. He believed that Africans in the Diaspora, especially in the United States, and Africans across Ethiopia should build reciprocal relations with Ethiopia for the benefit of the Black Race and their mutual development. Du Bois also made multiple attempts to engage and establish relations with Ethiopia and worked through official and unofficial channels to develop those relations.

By revisiting and reevaluating Du Bois’s engagement strategies with Ethiopia, the book suggests ways in which his evolving Pan-Africanism might be understood differently to how it has been deployed in scholarship on Black internationalism. The book provides new perspectives on Du Bois’s famous invocation of the global “color line” by uncovering his conceptual and practical reasons for specifically connecting Ethiopia to African Americans and the issues of global social and economic justice.
Decentering Whiteness in Libraries
Authors: Jamison Andrea
Published: December 2024

The book serves as a "how to" guide for evaluating and crafting collection development policies that will help create equity in library collections. The book not only helps contextualize the need for inclusive collection development policies but features user-friendly tables, guides, and sample policies.
What Art Does
Authors: Wittingslow Ryan Mitchell
Published: December 2024

We derive a great deal of cognitive pleasure from asking what artworks mean. And yet, despite the seriousness with which we approach these questions, they all too often rely on theories of art that fail to adequately explain how art conveys meaning.

This book proposes a new theory. In contrast to more conventional definitions of art, What Art Does defends the claim that artworks constitute a class of tool. Like other tools, artworks are objects that have functions and that furnish affordances. However, thanks to the particular social and material facts that underpin the creation of artworks, the functions that artworks have and the affordances they furnish are special.

It is thanks to these special functions and affordances that artworks obtain their privileged character and status. Because artworks do things that other tools cannot, we take artworks to be meaning-making objects with something to say.
Taming the Chaos of Dementia
Authors: Huelat Barbara J. , Pochron, PhD Sharon T.
Published: December 2024

A hopeful and practical guide to taming the challenges of dementia with creative interventions inspired by real stories of sufferers and caregivers alike.

If you've ever cared for someone with dementia, you might empathize with Alice, who tumbled down a rabbit hole and discovered herself in an unhappy world where time moved oddly, animals and plants spoke, but mostly to berate you. Familiar objects became terribly out of scale. If you're caring for someone with dementia now, you might feel like someone changed the rules of reality and that you need a guide, preferably someone kinder than the perennially late rabbit.

This book supports the journey—taken by both the caregiver and the person with dementia—providing loved ones with practical recommendations and enriched with human empathy. This book helps ease the stress by offering interventions and non-pharmaceutical therapeutic suggestions. It helps decode dementia's visceral world and supports non-cognitive human experiences. It shares stories of real people struggling to survive the challenges presented by dementia paired with practical examples of interventions that target the miseries of dementia behaviors, triggers, and causalities induced by them. The book provides options in the art of caregiving alongside the power of place, furnishings, light, color, technology, nature, and the senses.

Barbara Huelat explores options in human engagement, the experience of destinations, positive distractions, familiar settings, furnishings, light, color, technology, nature, and the emotion of the senses. She offers design interventions that support the family caregivers in functional and emotional outcomes. No cure exists for dementia, but the tips, tools, strategies and suggestions include here provide tools for caregivers and those with dementia to make the experience more comfortable and calm.
Fat, Stressed, and Sick
Authors: Reid Katherine , Price Barbara
Published: December 2024

Presents the scientific evidence that glutamate—aka MSG—in processed food contributes to a suite of preventable inflammatory diseases.

Fat, Stressed, and Sick makes the case that processed food compromises health not just because of added sugar, salt, and fat, but also because these foods contain significant amounts of glutamate—aka MSG. MSG makes food deliciously addicting. What was not well-known until described here is that most of the MSG in processed food is created during food manufacturing. As the authors show, food processing of protein alone adds 10 grams or more a day of MSG to the average American diet—a statistic that may surprise you.

The book details the research linking dietary glutamate to a suite of inflammatory diseases: obesity, diabetes, autism, addiction, depression, and cancer, to name a few. Understanding the role of MSG in disease became the quest of author and biochemist Katherine Reid when she learned that her young daughter’s autism symptoms were associated with inflammation of the brain. Reid made the connection between inflammation and glutamate in the diet—a connection amply supported by other studies. A deep dive into food manufacturing patents and FDA regulations revealed that, in addition to industry practices that create MSG during food processing, MSG is also found in ingredients labeled “hydrolyzed protein,” “yeast extract,” and even “natural flavors,” misleading labels that disguise a food’s true MSG content. In what became an experiment in her home kitchen, Reid examined every ingredient on every food label, removing all items with MSG and replacing them with whole foods. The results were swift and undeniable. Reid’s discovery that what one ate mattered was the start of a program of food-based solutions to chronic inflammatory illnesses, through which now, a decade later, she has helped thousands of people.

The idea that large amounts glutamate in the diet jeopardizes health is supported by decades of research, despite efforts by the glutamate industry to discredit the scientific evidence that MSG poses a risk. Some would have you believe the science is settled. It is not. This book explains the science behind why we crave the MSG in processed food, why it is hidden, how it is making us sick, and what we can do about it.
Lead Sister
Authors: O'Brien Lucy
Published: December 2024

"This may well become the definitive biography of Carpenter....Pop music fans will appreciate this strong biography." —Library Journal, Starred Review

Named a Financial Times 2023 Best Book of the Year – Pop Music

Named one of The Times and The Sunday Times, UK 17 best rock and pop music books of 2023

A groundbreaking biography reevaluating the life and legacy of transcendent musician Karen Carpenter

As one of the biggest-selling acts of the 1970s, the Carpenters are celebrated for their melodic pop and unforgettable hits like “Close to You,” “Yesterday,” and “Top of the World.” Though Karen is rightly recognized as one of the greatest singers in popular music, the tragedy of her early death in 1983 at the young age of just thirty-two sometimes overshadows her incredible achievements. She has often been portrayed as a victim, controlled by her family and exploited by the music industry.

Forty years after her death, this biography reframes her life and legacy as a pioneering woman with her own vision and agency. With exclusive interviews with friends, musicians, and collaborators, bestselling author Lucy O’Brien explores Karen’s contributions as a singer, drummer, arranger, and producer, and traces the roots of the Carpenters’ iconic sound. Lead Sister also honors Karen’s triumphs in the face of her struggle with anorexia, providing contemporary perspectives on eating disorders and mental health. Despite the chronic nature of her illness, Karen Carpenter was, above all, a creative, dedicated, and assured artist whose music delivers an emotional resonance that has transcended generations—and that is how she should be remembered.
Historical Dictionary of Lesotho
Authors: Aerni-Flessner John , Fogelman Charles , Mokoena-Mokhali Nthabiseng
Published: December 2024

Lesotho’s history has long been defined by its enclave status within South Africa, but it is a hard-fought and hard-won status that helps unite Basotho through the shared history of struggle against colonial rule in the region. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, Lesotho’s status as a separate entity has been called into question though the fierce national pride built through centuries of resistance to outside rule has mitigated against any serious discussions of incorporating Lesotho into South Africa. Still, the political instability and lack of a flourishing domestic economy have made life difficult for the majority of Basotho and could call into question the viability and legitimacy of the state in the eyes of its citizens if it cannot enact significant reforms in the coming decades.

Historical Dictionary of Lesotho, Third Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Lesotho.
Joe Biden’s Policies on Abortion and Immigration
Authors: Formicola Jo Renee
Published: December 2024

The first part of Joe Biden’s Policies on Abortion and Immigration examines the policy quandaries that arise from the fact that President Biden considers himself a liberal, a Catholic, and a Democrat. That self-identification has challenged aspects of his leadership and governance that have resulted in growing national controversies surrounding his abortion and immigration policies.

Thus, this book articulates Catholic moral and social teachings on these issues, the president’s perceived religious beliefs that often clash with his personal views and values, as well as his opposing political responses to them. It also explains his partisan actions to abortion and immigration that include numerous executive orders, appointments of individuals who are unable to help him develop solutions to such critical matters, and his criticisms of the Congress, the Supreme Court, and previous administration officials.

The second part of this book, then, gives examples of how policy difficulties have been overcome by various government leaders who have also dealt with critical decision-making and agenda options. It provides historical models, management methods, communication strategies, and religious principles that can be utilized to create pragmatic solutions to the problems of immigration and abortion. They can also be implemented by the president while also helping him to instill a sense of unity and justice on these policy issues in the United States.
American Camino
Authors: Redick Kip
Published: December 2024

Hikers have been walking the Appalachian Trail since 1948, when Earl Shaffer completed the first hike. Some hike just to enjoy the scenery, while others experience the trek as a spiritual journey. In American Camino: Walking as Spiritual Practice on the Appalachian Trail, Kip Redick engages in a phenomenological exploration of the relationship between long-distance hiking—in this case, hiking the Appalachian Trail—and spiritual pilgrimage. This book shows the way the Appalachian Trail concretizes existential connections between the hikers’ spiritual experiences and intersubjective relationships with various constituents on and around the trail: mountainous wilderness; its variation of flora, fauna, geology, and watershed; and social interactions with fellow hikers and with communities near the trail. Redick contrasts “spiritual rambling” with other approaches to hiking, such as scenic hikes where an experience of landscape is the focus, or a series of other aesthetic encounters that involve hikers’ connection with nature. This book interprets the Appalachian Trail as a site of spiritual journey and those who hike the wilderness trail as contemporary pilgrims.
Beyond Pinocchio
Authors: Pagani Andrea
Published: December 2024

Beyond Pinocchio is a meticulous examination of renowned author Carlo Collodi’s primers and his debunking Italian bourgeois propaganda ‘from within’. In his government-approved books for primary school, Collodi offered a view of society that was dissonant with the one promoted by Italian middle class propaganda in its very core values: the family, the State, and the cultural homogenization.

Collodi’s reputation as a supporter of bourgeois values has remained crystallized for decades, and even his most famous character, Pinocchio, has been seen as embodying those values for many years. Recently, however, this reputation has been questioned, thereby reframing the wooden puppet within an anti-establishment context.

With this book, Andrea Pagani proves how even Collodi’s primers deserve a careful re-reading, throwing light on an author too quickly labelled as an uncritical son of his times. At a time when a newborn State was aiming towards a standardized national community, Collodi wrote of a multicultural Italy, where the family is an empty concept, and linguistic diversity is an asset rather than a hindrance.
HIV Endurance
Authors: D'Amore Charlene F.
Published: December 2024

HIV Endurance: Women’s Journeys from Diagnosis to Aging offers an autoethnographic analysis of the lived experience of disclosing HIV to others, incorporating HIV into one’s identity, challenging HIV stigma, and aging with HIV. Charlene F. D’Amore combines her autoethnographic writing with the voices of seventeen other HIV positive women. The women offer advice to others on disclosing HIV, coping with HIV, challenging HIV stigma through education and advocacy, and aging with HIV using spirituality and a renewed life purpose to find meaning. HIV Endurance offers a model of the HIV disclosure continuum, strategies to challenge HIV stigma, guidance to incorporate HIV into one’s identity, and ways that organizations can prepare for the growing number of people who are aging with HIV.
Strange Instances of Time and Space in the Odyssey
Authors: Christopoulos Menelaos
Published: December 2024

Strange Instances of Time and Space in the Odyssey explores several aspects of the Homeric Odyssey, focusing on the complex relationship between time and space in Odysseus' maritime wondering. Using nostos as a mega-theme, Menelaos Christopoulos closely examines Odysseus' trips to the strait of Skylla, the island of Calypso, and the Underworld, questioning the intriguing analogies between Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus and the end of Odysseus' reign in Ithaca. This book sets forth original arguments, such as that the murder of Palamedes could be the real reason for Poseidon's wrath; that the poem describes a clear-cut distinction between Odysseus and his companions, who perish without leaving any trace of their prior existence with the sole exception of Elpenor; and, finally, that the Odyssey advocates a new and subversive epic model of life based on the preservation of life rather than on heroic death and the pursuit of glory.
Trumpism, Bigotry, and the Threat to American Democracy
Authors: Gerston Larry N.
Published: December 2024

In Trumpism, Bigotry, and the Threat to American Democracy, Larry N. Gerston examines the near-lethal combination of American bigotry and the ability of Donald Trump to take advantage of this scourge to satisfy his own political objective. The result is an individual who won election to the American presidency by adroitly pitting members of American society against one another, while presenting himself as the only person in the position to save America from itself. Having succeeded to the nation’s most important political office, Trump proceeded to use the position for his own benefit, irrespective of laws, norms, and, most importantly, the Constitution. So powerful was Trump that he and his minions came close to overturning the 2020 presidential election with the January 6, 2021, insurrection against the nation’s Capitol. While Trump failed in his attempt to remain in office, the threat to the well-being of the United States remains real.
Political Graffiti and Global Human Rights
Authors: Hopper Philip , Renfro Evan
Published: December 2024

Political Graffiti and Global Human Rights: Take Another Look examines the role of political graffiti in the public spaces of Northern Ireland and occupied Palestine, highlighting the ways in which oppressed communities utilize this form of expression to convey resistance, foster community support, preserve the memory of armed struggle, and assert their presence. By drawing a comparative analysis between Northern Ireland and Palestine, Philip Hopper and Evan Renfro argue that while the peace process has made progress in Northern Ireland, it has not been successful in Palestine. They assert that the disparities in political graffiti between the two regions are not solely attributable to geographical, historical, and political differences, but also to the varying degrees of success in resolving long-standing conflicts and the communities' ability to remember or forget past atrocities.

In addition to exploring the themes, symbols, inspirations, and artists behind wall art, this book delves into the evolution of the meaning of political graffiti over time, and critically examines the notion of who holds the privilege of creating politically themed art deemed to be in "good taste."
Ground Zero Narratives
Authors: Altwaiji Mubarak
Published: December 2024

Ground Zero Narratives: Islam and Muslims in Post-9/11 American Narratives and Arab American Counter-Narratives presents a dissection of American narratives to understand how 9/11 stories reflect both geopolitical relations and conflicts of our collective present regarding terrorism and counter-terrorism. Mubarak Altwaiji approaches post-9/11 narratives from two opposing perspectives/voices: neutral narratives and political narratives. By doing this, the book provides a neutral cultural territory divorced from geopolitical strategy to understand this new version of American literature and explore the common beliefs and values in it. A third focus, emerging in American literary studies and offering a bridge to those interested in exploring the cultural contributions of Muslim immigrants to American culture, is on the literature of immigrants. It is vital to consider the contribution of Arab American writers as the concepts of culture and co-existence are interlinked.
Among Equals
Authors: Manzi Lucia
Published: December 2024

This book explores the causes of prosecutorial independence and effectiveness against systemic corruption through an examination of the conditions leading to the Italian “Clean Hands” operation’s unprecedented success. In 1992, Italian prosecutors uncovered a decades-long corruption system cutting across regions and levels of government. The Clean Hands operation resulted in hundreds of convictions and permanently changed the Italian political landscape. This judicial breakthrough derived from a gradual and conflictual process to replace hierarchical prosecutorial institutions with more egalitarian ones. The author shows via case studies of the prosecutors’ offices in Milan, Rome, Palermo, and Reggio Calabria that the introduction of egalitarian decision-making afforded local prosecutors with enhanced independence in exploring novel investigative techniques and legal theories. The introduction of egalitarian organizational structures created ideal conditions for the emergence of legal innovations and their diffusion via judicial and prosecutorial networks. This process resulted in the unprecedented accumulation of prosecutorial expertise on complex criminal issues, such as domestic terrorism and mafia organizations, and led to the emergence of an effective prosecutorial approach to systemic corruption. Thus, the Italian case offers important lessons that may apply to the prosecution of systemic corruption in other democracies as well.
The Environmental Gaze
Authors: Balay Joe
Published: December 2024

Following Guido van Helten’s provocative reimagination of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit, The Environmental Gaze: Reading Sartre through Guido van Helten’s No Exit Murals offers an environmental reading of Sartre’s theory of the gaze (le regard). Joe Balay argues that while Sartre is commonly associated with the longstanding humancentric bias in Western thinking, a closer reading shows that his phenomenology of vision involves a powerful environmental story. On the one hand, this is demonstrated by the way that the social worldview contributes to a progressive alienation from our bodies and the natural world around us, culminating in the loss of the Earth in Sartre’s play. On the other, Balay argues that the artwork serves as a pivotal interruption of this alienation, inviting us to see the world anew through an inter-human-natural mode of perception that we might call the environmental gaze. In this way, this book makes a strong case for the significance of Sartre’s work and for the place of art in facing our environmental reality today.
HBO's The Leftovers
Authors: Borenstein Eliot
Published: December 2024

This book unpacks and analyzes the central themes of sacrifice, melancholy, apocalypticism, and the nature of family and home in HBO’s The Leftovers to demonstrate the key role it played in the development of early twenty-first-century television. Eliot Borenstein argues that the story of The Leftovers is the most sustained exploration of loss ever to appear on American television and subverts the expectations of viewers who look to prestige dramas as puzzles to solve by providing no clear answers the mysteries most central to the show’s plot. Instead, Borenstein posits, the series endeavors to provide more nuanced and realistic portrayals of the melancholy that occurs when people’s lives are unmoored, leavening an inherently depressing experience with absurdity and moments of grace.
Emplaced Resistances in Occupied Palestine
Authors: Hammad Suzanne Hassan
Published: December 2024

In this deeply personal study, Hammad illuminates a deep agenda of place, meaning, and resistance in territorial struggles through the telling of a less-heard story of how women, men, and young people understand their world and their lives in the occupied Palestinian West Bank landscape. Taking a case study of a contested and divided Palestinian village situated in the heart of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and known for its sustained, non-violent protest against the Separation Wall that cuts through its lived spaces, Hammad examines how villagers live, experience, interpret, and attempt to resist infringements on their property and person.

The study considers the spectrum of ways that people resist in this context, examining not only the overt weekly protests but also the everyday acts and subjectivities of resistance of its residents, young and old. It offers valuable theoretical insight into the extent and ways that meanings of place hold the potential to mediate, shape, and sustain resistance struggles through the voices and experiences of people. The backdrop of the protracted Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Palestinians’ struggle over space, place, and history—which continues to play out in the present—makes this book politically relevant and empowering as it brings voices from a secluded contested village to the world.
Understanding Digital Racism
Authors: Sharma Sanjay
Published: December 2024

Digital technologies are proliferating and transforming racism, complicating our understanding, and making contemporary racism increasingly harder to challenge. Digital racism takes many forms, such as viral memes circulating via social media platforms; the swarming of networked users targeting people of colour; hidden algorithmic classification and sorting; and the racial profiling of policing and surveillance systems. The variance and complexity of technologically mediated racisms begs the question of whether adequate attention has been paid to digital processes and environments through which race materializes.

Understanding Digital Racism analyzes the digital realm as a race-making technology, by exploring the rise, dissemination, and evolution of contemporary racism. Sanjay Sharma offers an innovative approach for understanding how racism─as informational and im/material post-racial phenomena─is manifested and remade through digital technologies. Digital racism is grasped through foregrounding the sociotechnical entanglements of racism and digital technologies. An analysis of networked relations, information flows, subjectivation and affects are critical to addressing the production of digital racism.
Suppression Of Terrorist Financing
Authors: Tofangsaz Hamed
Published: December 2024

In the last few decades, there has been a considerable effort, mainly from Western liberal countries, to create, develop, and diffuse into domestic laws, an internationally harmonized counter-terrorist financing regime through international treaties, recommendations and resolutions. This book aims to explore the penal (criminalization and confiscation) measures of the regime. Belonging to the category of analytical research, the book explores the nature of terrorist financing, and critically and extensively examines how it has been conceptualized and criminalized. The book argues that the application of these penal measures results in over-criminalization due to the vague conceptualization of the concept of terrorist financing, and due to its incompatibility with basic notions of criminalization and fundamental principles of the criminal law of many countries specifically Anglo-American law. Examining a number of ASEAN countries’ law on terrorist financing, the book then shows how these controversial measures have been crept into their law, resulting in the violation of human rights and democratic values which Western countries seek to promote.
Sparse Polarimetric Array for MIMO System
Authors: Yue Yaxing , Liao Guisheng , Yuan Xin , Shi Zhiguo
Published: December 2024

To enhance sensing or communication capabilities, the utilization of extremely large multiple-input multiple-output transceiver arrays (EL-MIMO-TAs) with high array degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) holds significant promise for future applications, such as integrated sensing and communications systems. However, the implementation of EL-MIMO-TAs may face the problem of mutual coupling. It also necessitates a substantial number of radio frequency chains, leading to undesirable hardware costs. Consequently, there has been a growing interest in sparse array designs aimed at reducing mutual coupling and hardware expenses while maintaining a constant array DoFs. Nevertheless, conventional sparse arrays primarily benefit from spatial DoFs alone. A shift toward the development of sparse polarimetric arrays has emerged, offering low mutual coupling, and enhanced spatial DoFs along with the ability to exploit the polarimetric characteristics of electromagnetic waves. This chapter explores different strategies for designing sparse polarimetric arrays, focusing on the sparsity of array element positions—specifically, non-uniform, uniform, and hybrid non-uniform and uniform sparsity. Additionally, it introduces a novel method for estimating multi-dimensional parameters based on the reconstructed covariance matrix through data fitting, emphasizing low computational complexity. A new beamformer in the spatial-polarimetric joint domain is also presented, showcasing its ability to suppress main-lobe interferences and improved beamforming performance from a sparse reconstruction perspective.
Nanomaterials Based Sensors: From Preparation to Versatile Applications
Authors: S. Omara Wessam , A. AlGhamdi Maram , Taymour Noha
Published: December 2024

Nowadays, nanomaterials are considered a magic tool in many industrial applications. They offer smart solutions for problems related to health, the environment, and energy. Because of their tiny size and precise characters, nanomaterials represent a unique and vital component in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS)-based technologies. One of the most important applications of these technologies is sensors. Sensors are divided into two main constituents, the first is the device and the second is the sensing materials. This chapter explains the main sensor components. It highlights the different classes of sensing materials. The main categories of sensing techniques are summarized. It also explains the relation between sensing materials and proposed sensing techniques, with a focus on materials properties at the nanoscale and their selective response to certain stimuli. Finally, it concludes with the challenges and prospective of the sensor industry and market.
Perspective Chapter: Building a Multisector STEM Learning Ecosystem at the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology
Authors: Zintgraff Cliff , Thoennes Michael , Martinez Joshua , De Leon Giselle
Published: December 2024

SAMSAT, the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology, has built a STEM learning ecosystem for its immediate community, and for the city working with partners. The work is centered at Port San Antonio, a former Air Force Base campus and SAMSAT’s host and partner. This chapter qualitatively describes the effort, including how research and data informs our work. Building on our museum platform and Port redevelopment, SAMSAT engages K-12, industry, academia, government, and non-profits, channeling the campus’s energy. The chapter includes brief history and context. It describes our education strategy of inspiration, engagement, and pathways. It highlights models, pedagogy, local and national partnerships, and measurement and evaluation. Four programs are described: a structural engineering course for middle schools, an eclipse celebration, our Mayor’s smart city challenge, and our citywide esports league. We close describing connections to social-emotional learning, and practices that help transform lives in our community.
Genetic Neuromuscular Diseases
Authors: Katerelos Adamantios
Published: December 2024

Genetic neuromuscular diseases are a diverse group of disorders caused by mutations that impact muscle fibers, motor neurons, and neuromuscular junctions. Notable examples of these disorders include Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and myotonic dystrophy, all of which manifest symptoms such as progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. Recent advancements in genetic diagnostics, particularly whole-exome sequencing, have significantly enhanced the accuracy of diagnoses and facilitated the development of personalized treatment strategies, which are crucial for improving patient outcomes. Innovative therapeutic approaches, such as gene therapy and CRISPR-Cas9 technology, hold considerable potential for rectifying genetic anomalies and creating targeted treatment options. Current research endeavors aim to expand our comprehension of the underlying mechanisms of these disorders, with particular emphasis on inflammation and cellular repair mechanisms. As our understanding evolves, there is optimism for the emergence of more effective therapeutic interventions, ultimately leading to an improved quality of life for individuals affected by these complex conditions.
Cultural Influences on Labor and Delivery Practices
Authors: Terentius Rugumisa Bernadether
Published: December 2024

Childbirth practices are deeply rooted in cultural traditions. These traditions encompass a wide range of beliefs, rituals, and societal norms that shape the experiences and decisions of women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Cultural influences include spiritual ceremonies, traditional knowledge, and practices passed down through generations. Modern medical interventions often coexist with or challenge traditional methods. Understanding and integrating these cultural dynamics into maternal care is essential for providing respectful, effective, and culturally sensitive healthcare. This chapter explores the historical and contemporary practices of childbirth across various cultures, highlighting the significant role of traditional birth attendants and the complex integration of modern medical practices. Additionally, it discusses the challenges in delivering culturally competent care. Through detailed case studies from different regions, the chapter emphasizes the importance of collaboration between healthcare providers and traditional practitioners. It also underscores the critical need for cultural competence training and the potential of technology to bridge communication gaps. The discussion suggests that a culturally sensitive approach to maternal care not only enhances the health outcomes for mothers and newborns but also promotes a more inclusive and equitable healthcare system that respects and values cultural diversity.
Optimizing Healthcare Delivery: Innovations and Economic Strategies in Medical Device Management
Authors: Marcão Ricardo , Monteiro Stéphanie , Santos Vasco , Martinho Filipa , José Sousa Maria , Dionísio António , Ramos Pedro
Published: December 2024

The global healthcare industry is currently undergoing a significant technological transformation, with the digitization of medical devices and systems at the forefront of revolutionizing healthcare delivery. This evolution aims to make healthcare more accessible, effective, and cost-efficient, necessitating healthcare providers to strategically evaluate and embrace new technologies along with procedural changes. This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of optimizing healthcare delivery, focusing on the crucial aspect of medical device management throughout its lifecycle. It distills academic research into practical guidance for healthcare providers and medical professionals, emphasizing the importance of patient-centric care, risk management, regulatory compliance, safety standards, and vigilant post-market surveillance. The lifecycle approach, covering development, testing, manufacturing, marketing, supply chain, device management, and eventual retirement, underscores the importance of safe and effective medical device management. It demonstrates that modern healthcare’s reliance on medical technology demands thoughtful and robust management processes for the efficient, safe, and innovative utilization of devices, benefiting both patients and organizations. Through discussions on research and case studies, the paper outlines a strategic process for achieving an economical and patient-centric healthcare delivery system, addressing the impact of healthcare costs on the utilization of medical devices and promoting studies on advancing patient-oriented healthcare systems.
Predicting Financial Crises: The Role of Shocks to Real Interest Rates and Credit on Aggregate Economic Activity, Lessons from the Austrian Business Cycle Theory
Authors: Abdul Rahman Yahuza
Published: December 2024

This study investigates postulates of the ABCT in selected advanced and emerging economies. Specifically, using quarterly data from 1980q1 to 2023q1, it estimates a Structural Vector Autoregressive Model with exogenous variables (SVARX) based on the Stochastic Keynesian Model for 20 selected countries. Outcomes of the study suggest mixed results. First, credit expansion and contraction are indeed induced by deviations of real interest rates from the trend. However, whilst this causal relationship is positive in the West and Latin America, it is negative in East Asia, Africa, and Middle East. Second, in 11 out of the 20 countries, credit expansion leads to substantial positive gaps of real GDP per capita around its potential level. It, however, leads to negative gaps in the remaining nine countries. Third, private consumption actually falls below the trend level in response to a positive shock to credit. Finally, values of imports tend to respond positively to impulses to credit. It concludes that financial crises are due to deviations of real interest rate from the equilibrium rate, which cause the output to deviate from its trend level leading to crises. Therefore, substantial deviations of real interest rates from the equilibrium rates give signals of pending financial crisis.