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Bodies as Battlefields: Gendered Violence during the Russian Pogroms
No full textThis paper explores how sexual violence during the Russian Civil War, particularly perpetrated by the White Army, was used as a ubiquitous tool for genocide against Jewish women. From 1918 to 1922, Jewish Women in the Russian Empire faced pervasive sexual violence during the pogroms: periods of mass violence and riots targeting Jews. This wave of violence led to displacement, immigration, and a profound impact on culture, reshaping the Jewish community forever and serving as a driving factor in the Jewish diaspora. Previous scholarship fails to critically engage with sexual violence as a unique tool in itself, as opposed to a byproduct of mass violence. This paper fills that critical gap in research, arguing that sexual violence targets identity and community based on testimony from Jewish women, doctors, and children
Full Issue: Volume 7, Issue 1
No full textThe first issue in the seventh volume of the Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal
Theoretical Underpinnings Of Therapeutic Practice After Modernism
No full textThis chapter provides a historical overview of the inception and evolution of postmodern ideas as they have informed the field of psychotherapy. While postmodernism as an intellectual stance predates its influence in therapeutic contexts, the 1980s and 1990s can be identified as revolutionary times for theorists and practitioners in the field. During that period, challenges to the modernist assumptions of objectivity, Truth, and universality were in full force in the humanities and social sciences. These dialogues opened the door to a new range of therapeutic theories and practices. This chapter traces the resulting trajectory from an initial therapeutic focus on language, to explorations in relational process, and then to the location of therapeutic resources. Finally, the potentials of postmodern therapies to adequately address the challenges of the 21st century are considered. Among the issues of focal importance are the challenge of systemic threat and the rudderless future invited by multiplicity
The Political Disconnect: Working-Class And Low-Income People On What Politics Means To Them And How They Might Be Mobilized
No full textA functioning democratic society must involve all kinds of people in deciding who will hold the power to enact laws and allocate tax dollars. However, working-class and low-income people vote at significantly lower rates than the more privileged in the US, and their participation has been declining in recent elections. In order to understand why those with fewer resources are less likely to vote and how this might change, a diverse group of researchers interviewed 232 low-income and working-class people (in every major racial group) from across Pennsylvania – 144 of whom either did not vote, or voted only occasionally. Our researchers spoke with each interviewee about their lives and communities, the issues they cared about, and their views on politics and voting. This report describes some of the key results of those interviews, and makes recommendations for increasing political participation among low-income and working-class people in the U.S. Almost every nonvoter or irregular voter we spoke with told us that politics seems disconnected from their lives in at least one of two ways. First, many feel like politics are by, for, and about people unlike themselves, people who are wealthier or more educated. Second, many see politics as corrupt and unable to create meaningful change, and believe that politicians are not interested in helping them or their communities. We make three recommendations based both on our interviews and on a broader body of research. 1) People want to believe that politics can meaningfully improve their lives – so they need to see clear connections between the real problems they face and potential and actual solutions in politics and policy. 2) People want to see themselves reflected in politics – so they need more people from low-income and working-class backgrounds working in every aspect of politics and government, at every level. 3) People want to feel genuinely listened to by those who have, or seek, political power – so they need politicians and other political groups to spend more time in low-income and working-class communities
Russia’s Cultural Thermometer: Imperial Balls at the Turn of the 20th Century
No full textThis work presents a novel perspective of Russian galas and their role in constructing an authentically Russian imperial culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During this time, imperial balls functioned as both displays of soft power and represented a testing ground for the re-introduction of “authentic” Russian culture. After the modernizing wave of the Petrine revolution and long nineteenth-century intellectual debates between Westernizers and Slavophiles, Russia was deeply entrenched in Euro-centric dress, culture, and etiquette. This work proposes that turn-of-the-20th-century balls represented a reconfiguring of “Russianness” and displayed the aristocracy\u27s internalized struggles for national identity. These articulations of Russian identity and culture were not only for domestic consumption but also for foreign audiences. By examining ball descriptions from foreign ball attendees, such as Théophile Gaultier, Maria Georgievna (Grand Duchess of Russia at the time), and Alexander Mikhailovich (Grand Duke to Nicholas II), “Russia’s Cultural Thermometer: Imperial Balls at the Turn of the 20th Century” contributes a fresh perspective on displays of aristocratic self-identification during the late Tsarist period
Secular “Bhavs” Of Remixed Dances: Dance Reality Shows As Soft Resistance
No full textThe relationship between Bollywood song and dance numbers and Dance Reality shows is long, intimate, and intricate. Item numbers are globally circulated, shape identities, and are remediated through Reality Shows; at the same time, new digital platforms such as YouTube and TikTok have further increased the visibility of screen dance genres, including Bollywood and Bollywood-derived Reality Shows. These phenomena have received relatively little scholarly attention. The author has analyzed the mixing, porosity, and consumerism of screen dance genres of Bollywood item numbers using the lens of “remix” (2017). This chapter will argue that the remix aesthetics on Reality Shows have forged an emotional (affective) hybridity that is antithetical to the fervor of authoritarian Hindu nationalism of contemporary Indian culture. As the fervor of Hindutva sweeps across various cultural spaces and practices from Bollywood to yoga to classical and folk dance and music, attempting to create a homogenized mono-cultural India, it seems few spaces remain independent of such purity discourse. The author will argue that Dance Reality Shows perhaps remain a resistant space by embracing remixes, hybridity, and inclusivity in their production. By analyzing a few song and dance sequences from Bombay/Bollywood films and focusing on shows such as “Dance India Dance” and “Just Dance”, the chapter will explore how these screen dances represent values of pluralism, democracy, and secularism for aspirational Indians. Finally, it will explore the workings of participatory democracy and a resilient cosmopolitanism through popular media such as Dance Reality Shows
Experimentally Induced Sexual Behavior In Male Gray Treefrogs Activates The HPG But Not The HPI Axis
No full textWhile many studies have established how hormones modulate behavior, experiments that manipulate a behavior and quantify its hormonal consequences are rarer. Frog sexual behavior presents an opportunity to control a discrete behavior and observe its secretory consequences. Male frogs clasp females (amplexus) prior to gamete release. In the wild, amplexed males have endogenously higher gonadal and interrenal steroids. Here, we used Cope\u27s gray treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis) to experimentally test the hypothesis that the behavioral act of amplexus causes these increased circulating hormones. We quantified levels of testosterone, estradiol, and corticosterone after 90 min in three treatment groups: unpaired males that were given access to a female and allowed to enter amplexus (“amplexus induced”), males in naturally amplexed pairs that were separated from their mate (“amplexus terminated”), and unpaired males that remained unpaired (“control”). Testosterone and estradiol were elevated in the amplexus induced group relative to males in the amplexus terminated and control groups. We did not observe any differences in corticosterone levels across treatment groups. These results suggest the behavioral act of amplexus activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, but not the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal axis. This study provides experimental evidence of a discrete behavior rapidly initiating hormonal changes
Gold, Manuscripts, and Misunderstanding: The Forgotten Intellectual Wealth of Timbuktu
No full textThis article re-examines Timbuktu’s legacy, challenging European myths that imagined the city as a hidden African “El Dorado” while overlooking its intellectual wealth. From the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, Timbuktu thrived as a hub of trade, religion, and scholarship, home to mosques, libraries, and networks of learning that drew scholars from across the Islamic world. Manuscripts on theology, law, medicine, and science circulated widely, placing the city at the heart of West Africa’s intellectual life. Yet European explorers and mapmakers, influenced by accounts like those of Leo Africanus, recast Timbuktu as a treasure-laden city of gold. This obsession, reinforced by distorted cartography and imperial rivalries, overshadowed its scholastic traditions. Nineteenth-century explorers, from Alexander Laing to René Caillié, expressed disillusion when its modest architecture failed to match the myth. By analyzing chronicles, travelogues, maps, and modern preservation efforts, this paper restores Timbuktu’s reputation as a vibrant center of learning and reclaims its place in the intellectual heritage of the world
Lying Is Always Wrong
No full textAnyone new to philosophy soon encounters new ideas that challenge their hidden biases and cherished beliefs, or are at odds with common sense and tradition. Yet, these philosophical ideas are backed by strong arguments, arguments so strong that it’s difficult to identify what is wrong with them. Too Weird to Believe, Too Plausible to Deny: Mind-Blowing Philosophical Ideas explores these strange yet cogent ideas in 29 short, clear chapters written by some of the best philosophers alive today. Each chapter starts with a seemingly counterintuitive philosophical conclusion and a simple, accurate description of the underlying argument supporting the conclusion, including historical and cultural context. This is followed by an outline of objections for the purposes of conversation and debate, and a discussion of the implications of the idea, or how it may relate to the reader’s interests and attitudes. Each chapter closes with suggested readings and a list of references for readers who want to learn more about the idea