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Introduction. Agoraphilia: notes on the possibility of the public
No full textBook synopsis: Mexico has long been lauded and studied for its post-revolutionary public art, but recent artistic practices have raised questions about how public art is created and for whom it is intended. In The New Public Art, Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra, together with a number of scholars, artists, and activists, looks at the rise of community-focused art projects, from collective cinema to off-stage dance and theatre, and the creation of anti-monuments that have redefined what public art is and how people have engaged with it across the country since the 1980s.
The New Public Art investigates the reemergence of collective practices in response to privatization, individualism, and alienating violence. Focusing on the intersection of art, politics, and notions of public participation and belonging, contributors argue that a new, non-state-led understanding of "the public" came into being in Mexico between the mid-1980s and the late 2010s. During this period, community-based public art bore witness to the human costs of abuses of state and economic power while proposing alternative forms of artistic creation, activism, and cultural organization
What does the decline of natural history museums mean for biodiversity conservation? (commentary)
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The war within: emotional experiences of children in Norwegian Child Protection Services
Get PDFThis article demonstrates how children’s emotional experiences in the context of child protection services (CPS) impact their choices in everyday lives. It draws on a qualitative study examining the lived experiences of children from Pakistani backgrounds with Norwegian CPS. The data analysis shows that children’s emotions are social and relational, interacting with their broader politico-cultural environment, as they are both shaped and being shaped by their experiences with CPS. We argue that analysing emotions is important for understanding children’s complex lives and identities and that this can inform CPS policies and practices and contribute to framing their protection needs in the wider sociocultural and political contexts
Disaster insurance reimagined: protection in a time of increasing risk
Get PDFBook synopsis: This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.
This book examines the growing role and importance of 'Protection Gap Entities' (PGEs), not-for-profit entities providing insurance protection that would otherwise be unavailable within a purely private sector context. Around the world, PGEs and the insurance instruments they use are becoming increasingly crucial in making sure that funds are available to rebuild after disasters. These PGEs, typically developed as collaborations between governments and the insurance industry, enable insurance to continue at a time when climate change, urbanization, global interdependence, and geo-political instability are making disaster insurance increasingly expensive or unavailable.
Given their growing importance, understanding the role of PGEs in both insurance protection and their potential to create a more resilient society is critical. Disaster Insurance Reimagined uses practical examples from different countries to explain how PGEs step in to maintain disaster insurance and how their work can, but does not always, improve financial and physical resilience to disaster. Drawing on 5 years of research into 17 entities that provide insurance cover in 49 countries, the authors examine the strengths, limitations, and evolution of PGEs in providing disaster protection in the face of a growing insurance crisis. They provide an accessible discussion of disaster insurance, its complexities, and the transformation it needs to undergo in order to remain relevant and to contribute to meaningful disaster protection. PGEs and their work offer a path to re-imagining disaster insurance as a key tool in an ecosystem that has societal protection from disaster at its heart
Complex intersections of language and culture: the importance of an ethnographic lens for research within transnational communities
Get PDFA growing body of work exploring transnational interaction has brought to light the importance of awareness of multilingualism in research contexts, yet little consideration has been given to researchers working in a later learned language (LX) or the process of investigating linguistically diverse communities. This research takes place within a multilingual social space, a transnational Spanish language group in London, against the backdrop of a globalized and mobile world. The work explores the complexities of conducting research in a multilingual, international, and transient context where sharing all language varieties and/or cultures with participants may not be practical, possible, or even preferable. The data, collected by myself (a participant-researcher), includes recordings of informal social conversations, ethnographic observations, and interviews with key participants. Their analysis highlights linguistic adaptation to facilitate transnational understanding, demonstrates the value of interviews in a common LX, and considers how language ideologies and norms affect transcription of multiple language varieties. The paper argues that utilizing an ethnographic lens, particularly when working in an LX, allows for a deeper understanding of localized multilingual interaction through closeness to the participants and advocates a slow, detailed approach to data analysis.
RESUMEN
Cada vez más estudios sobre interacción transnacional revelan la importancia de tomar conciencia del multilingüismo en contextos de investigación, pero se ha prestado poca atención a los investigadores que trabajan en lenguas aprendidas después de la infancia (LX) o al proceso de investigar comunidades lingüísticamente diversas. La investigación se realiza en un espacio multilingüe-un grupo transnacional de hablantes de español en Londres-en el contexto de un mundo global con alta movilidad. Este artículo explora las complejidades de investigar en un contexto multilingüe, internacional y transitorio donde compartir variedades lingüísticas y/o culturas con los participantes puede no ser práctico, posible, o incluso preferible. Los datos, recogidos como participante-investigadora, incluyen grabaciones de conversaciones sociales informales, observaciones etnográficas y entrevistas con participantes. El análisis destaca cómo la adaptación lingüística facilita el entendimiento transnacional, demuestra el valor de realizar entrevistas en una LX compartida y considera cómo las ideologías y normas lingüísticas afectan la transcripción de múltiples variedades lingüísticas. El artículo sostiene que una perspectiva etnográfica, particularmente al investigar en una LX, permite un entendimiento más profundo de la interacción multilingüe localizada a través de un mayor acercamiento a los participantes. Asimismo, defiende un enfoque lento y detallado en el análisis de datos
The typical and atypical development of empathy: how big is the gap from lab to field?
Get PDFBackground: Empathy-understanding and sharing someone else's feelings-is crucial for social bonds. Studies on empathy development are limited and mainly performed with behavioural assessments. This is in contrast to the extensive literature on cognitive and affective empathy in adults. However, understanding the mechanisms behind empathy development is critical to developing early interventions to support children with limited empathy. This is particularly key in toddlerhood, as children transition from highly scaffolded interactions with their parents and towards interactions with their peers. However, we know little about toddlers' empathy, in part due to the methodological constraints of testing this population in traditional lab settings.
Methods: Here, we combine naturalistic observations with a targeted review of the literature to provide an assessment of our current understanding of the development of empathy in toddlerhood as it is expressed in real-world settings. We went into toddlers' typical habitat, a nursery, and we performed 21 h of naturalistic observations of 2-to-4-year-olds. We then reviewed the literature to evaluate our current understanding of the mechanisms that underpin observed behaviours.
Results: We observed that (i) emotional contagion, possibly a primitive form of empathy, was observed at the nursery, but rarely; (ii) older toddlers often stared when someone cried, but there was no clear evidence of shared feelings; (iii) teacher and parent scaffolding might be paramount for empathy development; (iv) as some atypical empathic reactions can be observed from toddlerhood, early interventions could be developed. Several competing theoretical frameworks could account for current findings.
Conclusions: Targeted studies of toddlers and their interaction partners in both controlled and naturalistic contexts are required to distinguish different mechanistic explanations for empathic behaviour in toddlerhood. We recommend the use of new cutting-edge methodologies to embed neurocognitively-informed frameworks into toddlers' natural social world
Jewish women in comics: borders and bodies
No full textBook synopsis: In this groundbreaking collection of essays, interviews, and artwork, contributors draw upon a rich treasure trove of Jewish women’s comics to explore the representation of Jewish women’s bodies and bodily experience in pictorial narratives. Spanning national, cultural, and artistic borders, the essays shine a light on the significant contributions of Jewish women to comics.
The volume features established figures including Emil Ferris, Amy Kurzweil, Miriam Libicki, Trina Robbins, Sharon Rudahl, and Ilana Zeffren, alongside works by artists translated for the first time into English, such as artist Rona Mor. Exploring topics of family, motherhood, miscarriages, queerness, gender and Judaism, illness, war, Haredi and Orthodox family life, and the lingering impact of the Holocaust, the contributors present unique, at times intensely personal, insights into how Jewishness intersects with other forms of identity and identification. In doing so, the volume deepens our understanding of Jewish women’s experiences
Integrated blended learning in a law curriculum
Get PDFI am the Certificate HE Legal Studies programme director at Birkbeck London University. This is 120 UCAS credits of 4 modules taken across one year. Given that most of the Birkbeck School of Law’s student population is characterised by mature students, many have been taking this course to enrich their legal knowledge and academic skills; others have used this as an entry qualification for a law degree.
Both reasons have encouraged me to design a course that can support students in developing transferable skills and knowledge. Therefore, I have drawn on pedagogical research in critical pedagogy, lifelong learning and transformative practice, and recent studies on neuroscience and education.
I have developed a blend of face-to-face and digital learning since 2018, but it has received greater attention since the advent of Covid. I now integrate all my courses with e-learning components to enrich students’ learning experience, self-sustaining and empowering.
The digital learning experience I would like to share at EDULEARN23 can be categorised into four parts: engagement before class for class discussion; application of self-learning; reflective practice; and assessment.
1. Engagement before class for class discussion: one example is using the VLEs’ (Moodle) posted-notes function. First, it initiates the reflective practice process, helping students discover themselves. Second, it allows sharing, creating a sense of ‘we are in it together’ and ‘we are in the same boat’. And finally, it makes content for discussion in class.
2. Application of self-learning: for this purpose, I use a VLEs tool (H5P available on Moodle) that allows the input of an answer and the subsequent generation of feedback. I have been using this tool, especially in teaching the Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion (IRAC) method, to answer legal problem questions, a typical legal exercise. Once the student has ‘self-learnt’ and practised how to use and apply IRAC (learning that will happen in preparation for class), the class discussion can then rely on and build on this knowledge and move on with the learning, then take the approach of ‘checking homework’.
3. Reflective practice: using a reflective journal impacts personal development and getting to know oneself. It also teases out the recognition of transformative practice. I have been using reflective practice as a minor component in most of the four modules’ assessments; however, this specific assessed reflective journal is set as a stand-alone piece of assessment in the last module. It brings enhanced features aiming to allow students to engage with their skills.
4. Assessment: I use a range and varied assessment diet in all my teaching. By doing so, students can practice and apply a different set of skills (such as in the case of online discussions). It also helps to manage students’ learning time by either having the assessment as a learning tool or spreading it across several weeks. I have recently tested a new way to assess students that is aligned with the content of teaching, hence encouraging class attendance.
These blended learning methods have been presented and shortlisted for Birkbeck’s Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, 2022-23
Wrongful convictions and erroneous acquittals: applying Packer’s Model to examine public perceptions of judicial errors in Australia
Get PDFThe fallible nature of the criminal justice system continues to see judicial errors—that is, wrongful convictions and erroneous acquittals—undermine its integrity, efficacy, and legitimacy. Public perceptions of judicial errors are important contributors to
criminal justice policy and reforms. The current study utilizes the 2016 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA) dataset to examine public attitudes toward judicial errors. It applies Herbert Packer’s crime control and due process models to understand how concerns around procedural safeguards and public safety are
associated with public perceptions toward judicial errors. Packer’s model has been challenged by studies, which theorize that the models are not mutually exclusive. Yet, they have not been empirically tested in this context, which is a gap this study
seeks to fill. Findings show that due process and crime control concerns shape public attitudes toward wrongful convictions and challenge the notion that Packer’s models be applied on a continuum
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