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Zaire Ebolavirus: A Silent Killer
Get PDFIn 2014, the West African country Guinea experienced a major outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) that ended in 2016. Patient zero is believed to be an 18-month old boy from a small village who received the virus from bats, a potential reservoir host. After spreading rapidly through rural areas, the virus made its way to major urban centers for the first time, significantly increasing the infection and death rates
“Try, Start, Do it”: Phil Zimbardo and the Heroes’ Square Foundation
No full textThis article pays tribute to the life and legacy of Philip Zimbardo, emphasizing his transformative influence in Hungary through education, social engagement, and the science of heroism. The journey began with a 2012 invitation that brought Zimbardo to Budapest, ultimately leading to the foundation of the Heroes’ Square (Hősök Tere) initiative. His message—that heroism is not reserved for the exceptional but is accessible and teachable—became the core of nationwide programs focused on mindset, intervention behavior, and social responsibility. Zimbardo’s influence went beyond academia; he inspired personal and institutional change. The foundation’s programs, such as teacher trainings, the Hero School, and the EcoHero initiative, aim to foster courage, empathy, and active citizenship. Real-world stories, including a whistleblower\u27s intervention in a child abuse case, illustrate the far-reaching impact of these teachings. Blending social psychology with practical action, the article highlights how Zimbardo’s legacy continues to shape education, communities, and public discourse in Hungary. His work demonstrates that even small steps can lead to powerful change—and that heroism is not an act of the few, but a potential in all of us
From Heroic Imagination to Heroic Action: The Legacy of Philip Zimbardo in Portugal
No full textThis article presents the development and implementation of the Heroic Imagination Project (HIP) in Portugal, tracing its evolution from inception to expansion across educational and community contexts. In 2018, the authors attended the Hero Round Table in San Francisco, receiving training from Zimbardo on the bystander effect and strategies to counteract it. Recognizing the absence of HIP curricula for younger audiences and the importance of fostering prosocial behavior early, the team created tailored programs: HIP Kids for children and HIP Teens for adolescents. Since 2018, these programs have been implemented in schools and social centers, reaching approximately 1,200 participants. Developed within the framework of psychology graduate research, the programs were systematically tested and revealed significant gains in prosocial attitudes and behaviors. Mixed-methods evaluation shows measurable increases in altruism, empathy, and prosocial tendencies, while qualitative data indicate meaningful behavioral changes in daily life. A key advancement has been the creation of HIP Clubs, which empower young people to transform heroic imagination into community-based heroic action
CLIMATE CHANGE: THE WORLD IN UNCHARTED WATERS – EXPLORING THE NEXUS OF HUMAN-RIGHTS BASED LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
No full textThe framework of human rights is based on a “fundamental and irrevoca- ble belief in the dignity and worth of every individual.”! While many differ- ent channels have emerged for protecting human rights in the face of global climate change, there is still significant room for improvement. For decades, there was no formal recognition of human-centered environmental rights.? The recent United Nations General Assembly (“UNGA”) acknowledgement of a right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a tool that can “facilitate the reconceptualization of human rights law to better adapt to the negative impacts of climate change.” It represents a step toward the type of robust rights-based framework necessary to combat climate change and mit- igate the harms, inequities, and injustices associated with it.* However, the UNGA resolution alone is insufficient, as it does not create binding legal obligations on United Nations (“UN”) member states.’ Climate change presents “a series of nearly unsurmountable obstacles to the concrete application of human rights law to its adverse effects on the world popula- tion.” Given the scope of the challenge, all approaches must be explored. Accordingly, this note evaluates domestic and intemational climate change legal instruments, their success in creating an effective rights-based frame- work to address climate change, and potential strategies for improving the linkage between environmental protection and human rights
Trouble-Making Teens: Can They Control Their Impulses?
No full textTeenagers can be moody, irritable, and defiant; they may snap at their parents and make risky decisions that they regret. Decisions such as having unprotected sex or taking harmful, illegal substances can be drastically life-changing. Are these risky decisions acts of purposeful defiance, or is there more to it? Are teens truly in charge of their impulses, or are they victims of their developmental biology
Women, Life, and Freedom: The Changing Landscape of Iranian Women’s Movements Before and After the Islamic Revolution
No full textIranian women’s movements, both pre- and post-Islamic Revolution, have continually adapted to the repressive tactics of those in power to advocate for women’s rights in an authoritarian environment. With the introduction of social media, Iranian feminists have been able to counter political suppression and successfully organize against the regime. In this paper, I analyze how Iranian women’s movements have changed before and after the Islamic Revolution, and how social media has allowed modern women’s movements to succeed amidst state surveillance and political violence at the hands of the regime. I determine that social media has been a crucial factor in the success of modern movements like the Woman, Life, Freedom and Green protests, and that the struggle between Iranian feminists and authoritarian regimes has been ongoing since the 20th century.
Note: This paper was written prior to the Iranian protests emerging in late December of 2025 and is not reflective of their state as of January 2026
Practicing Community, Cultivating Democracy -- Lessons from Professional Power Shifters
No full textBelow I describe five intentional practices people working in human-facing professions can employ in order to create the conditions for a healthy democracy.
These practices were originally distilled from my observations at the Deaconess Foundation’s Helsinki D-Stations and from my interactions and discussions with professionals across the Foundation’s Civic Action and Community Programs team from January-June 2023, when I was hosted by the Deaconess Foundation on a Mid-Career Professional Development Award from the Fulbright Finland Foundation. Since then, I have augmented and clarified these practices through observation and reflection with colleagues in my American context, where I am the executive director of a well-established center for civic engagement at a small liberal arts university in Richmond, Virginia, in the southeastern United States.
This report aims to raise and address the following questions:
How can we, as professionals, participate in and cultivate democratic, inclusive forms of community building and civic action…
… in our own daily and programmatic practices? … structurally, within our organizations? … organizationally, influencing other structures?
And, just as critically:
How are we, as professionals, ourselves perpetuating status quo power dynamics that often block the realization of those goals? How might we shift power to cultivate new possibilities for civic participation and collective problem-solving
[Associated Excel file for] Facilitating Portfolio Construction using Ex-ante Information Ratios and Maximum Sharpe Ratios
No full textInvestors should consider Sharpe ratios and correlations together when adding a new fund to their existing portfolio. The ex-ante information ratio (also known as the appraisal ratio) is effective in informing this decision. However, a maximum Sharpe ratio calculation is equally effective in this decision while providing the additional benefit of producing optimal portfolio weights for the combined portfolio. In this paper, we demonstrate how to compute these measures to help facilitate portfolio construction