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Agriculture on the Lombard Plain: A Medieval and Early Modern Overview
No full textExamining the composition of a particular landscape is a fruitful framework by which to understand its human history. The Lombard Plain, in northern Italy, is no exception. This paper identifies key forces which shaped the region during the medieval and early modern period, such as the ambitions of the ducal families of Milan, an emphasis on intensive agriculture, commercial interests, and the development of canals. It also argues that despite praise for Lombardy’s fertility and productivity, one must consider the influences of disease, war, and the oppression of the rural population in order to provide a balanced understanding of this landscape
Thomas Sankara’s Legacy: Forging the Burkinabe Cultural Identity
No full textThis paper explores the legacy of Thomas Sankara, the first president of Burkina Faso, whose brief yet impactful time in power from 1983 to 1987 continues to influence Burkinabè identity and Pan-African political thought. Sankara’s policies were grounded in an ideology that focused on decolonization, Pan-African unity, anti-corruption, women’s emancipation. He fostered a national identity rooted in indigenous African values through his dedicated promotion of local and traditional culture, language, and independence. This paper examines the influence of Sankara’s ideology, both during his life and after his death, as Blaise Compaoré attempted to use his regime to erase Sankara’s place in Burkinabè history. It also investigates the resurgence of Sankarist ideals in political parties, social movements, and youth activism in contemporary Burkina Faso. While acknowledging the limitations and contradictions of Sankara’s leadership, this paper argues that his revolutionary vision played a central role in constructing a resilient Burkinabè identity that persists beyond his assassination and continues to inspire collective action and national pride today
Conceptualizing the Effects of Anti-Asian Racism on Health and Mental Well-Being in the Social Media Space
No full textAsian Canadians have a long history in Canada but continue to face racism and discrimination. The current pandemic has exacerbated and, in some way, normalized anti-Asian racism. This racism has also permeated social media, which has become an increasingly prominent source of information and space for communication. While the link between racial discrimination and one’s health and mental well-being has been clearly established, less is known regarding the potential impact of racial discrimination occurring in the social media space and the health and mental well-being of Canadians—particularly Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups. This paper seeks to provide a conceptual framework to better understand the potential impacts of racism and discrimination on one’s health and mental well-being in the social media space
“War against War”: the Anti-War Museum in Berlin, its founder Ernst Friedrich, and his Strategies for Peace in the Weimar Republic
No full textJulian Nordhues details the work of Ernst Friedrich (1894-1967), anarchist, pacifist, and founder of the Berlin Anti-War Museum (1925), focusing on his visual strategies of anti-militarist agitation in the Weimar Republic (1919-33). Nordhues highlights how Friedrich’s integration of photographs into political discourse challenged the culture of remembrance in Weimar Germany and exposed the violent underpinnings of state and militarism
Child Ecologies in a Microbial World: A New Imperative for Childhood Studies
No full textAll bodies—child, animal, plant—are bodies sustained by life processes. Human as well as animal and plant bodies coexist with a multiplicity of microbial life. As symbiotic partners, human bodies are ecosystems of microbial life in a microbial world. In this way, microbes cannot simply be seen as disease-causing and human bodies as hosts of human-only life. Simplistic notions of the child as a unitary and social subject and the image of the agentic child are both questioned by this view. What if we considered for childhood studies the body’s microbial constitution in a bacterial world? How would everyday life unfold as a more-than-human sociality in which children act, think, and feel on a daily basis? In this conversation article, seven multidisciplinary scholars address the following questions by grounding their responses in their respective fields, in childhood, and in their research interests: How do microbes and childhood matter in your research? Consider how the understanding of microbes as foundational for life influences your field of research. How does your research seek to engage the biosocial imagination and the challenge of integrating biological and social understandings of the child in fruitful and robust ways? How do considerations of microbes and childhood bring together multidisciplinary engagements
It’s Not All Objectivity and Development: Documentation Dilemmas and Discoveries in a Toddler Classroom
No full textThis article seeks to explore a process of ongoing engagement with classroom documentation, returning to pieces of data and drawing on teaching experiences from a toddler classroom. In response to pervasive narratives in early childhood education that link practices of observation and documentation with accountability and assessment, a self-reflexive inquiry into the discursive forces that guide teachers’ representations of children is taken up. Drawing at times on feminist poststructural theories and new materialisms, imaginings for more expansive possibilities for reconceptualizing documentation are discussed
Soames Creek Riparian Planting Restoration
No full textSoames Creek, a creek in Coastal British Columbia, was impacted by heavy rainfall and slope failures during an atmospheric river in 2021. High water flows and debris redirected the stream channel, and in order to slow undercutting that put critical drinking water infrastructure at risk, the stream was channelized and armoured with riprap. During the installation of riprap, riparian vegetation in the project area was lost and not replanted. The main ecological goal of this project was to restore a portion of Soames Creek that was affected by the debris flow, flooding and armouring in 2021 through riparian area planting, including revegetating the riprap.
This project first identified the best vegetation for the current disturbed site conditions, through desktop review and site surveys. Following this review, a planting plan consisting of native plants suited for the for the disturbed site conditions and site goals was developed and sourced from a local nursery. Planting of the project area then took place. Site monitoring is recommended initially for plant survival, then for the long-term project success of restoring the riparian vegetation on site to increase ecological diversity and low-level canopy cover over the stream for aquatic species, and absorb moisture during periods of high stream flow and rainfall to better stabilize stream flows
EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GROUP TRIPLE P (POSITIVE PARENTING PROGRAM) IN AN ORPHANAGE CONTEXT IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN
No full textAn inadequate caregiving environment in an orphanage can negatively impact children’s well-being, while a lack of specialized training can induce work-related stress and lower self-efficacy among caregivers. This study examined the effectiveness of the Group Triple P (positive parenting program) with caregivers of children in Pakistani orphanages. Fourteen caregivers across three orphanages completed self-report questionnaires and took part in Group Triple P. A repeated measures ANOVA indicated that the personal well-being of the caregivers improved following intervention. There was also a significant increase in caregivers’ parenting efficacy and a decrease in the use of dysfunctional parenting practices. The frequency and number of children’s challenging behaviors was reported to decrease significantly, along with a significant increase in warmth and reduction in negativity in caregiver–child relationships. This study was the first to implement Group Triple P in an orphanage context. The outcomes support the use of an evidence-based parenting intervention with orphanage caregivers who are in a proxy parenting role