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The city as a site of contention: contemporary Japanese and Pakistani cinemas in conversation
Full text linkThis chapter engages with the paradigm of ‘global screen worlds’ (Dovey and Taylor-Jones 2021) through a discussion on Japanese and Pakistani cinemas. While at first the two cinemas (and contexts) may appear vastly different, a comparative and collaborative approach allows the authors to examine the experience of the Asian city in Asian cinema seeking to de-centre and de-westernise ideas of modernity, community, and the self. With a focus on female sex workers in Tokyo in Dawn of the Felines (Mesunekotachi, dir. Kazuya Shiraishi, 2017; Japan) and working-class male friends in Lahore in Zinda Bhaag (translation: Run for Your Life, dirs. Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, 2013; Pakistan) multistrand narratives, intersectionality, modernity and gender come to the forefront. The chapter examines questions of mobility, access, transactional relationships, and screen cultures, surveillance and technology, and puts them in conversation with the films’ distinct contexts of production and distribution
Doing it the hard way
No full textAn academic career in economic geography came late for this author. After teaching drama in schools for many years, the opportunity came to do an undergraduate degree in Economics externally from London University which had optional geography modules. This was combined with motherhood. This was followed by a DPhil at Oxford University School of Geography (1983-1990).
This watershed experience has five dimensions.
1. Timing: being accepted by Oxford depended on the reference from Michael Wise and that the interview panel was chaired by the acting head of Department, the late Marjorie Sweeting, a geomorphologist, who accepted my application. This was support by a woman for women scholars in action.
2. The kindness of the supervisory team: Ken Warren, an industrial geographer, and Jeremy Howells, who has become a leading economic geographer, and then many others.
3. The arrival of David Harvey in 1987 brought a new buzz, a whole stream of famous visitors and lunchtime critical discussion groups.
4. An introduction to academic priorities of teaching, publishing and getting research grants.
5. Becoming embedded in the world of professional associations and conferences – but quickly realizing the importanc
Safeguarding stability: general principles of international law and gap filling in the law of withdrawal
No full textWithdrawal from international treaties, organisations, courts, and tribunals can be politically and legally destabilising to the wider international legal order. There are also often dilemmas which arise where an issue relating to a withdrawal is not covered in a treaty's withdrawal clause. General principles of international law have been used in disputes over treaty withdrawal to address gaps in the law of treaty withdrawal. Focusing on one specific type of case, where a state withdraws a unilateral declaration to escape a court's jurisdiction, this chapter analyses the role of gap-filling by general principles in cases of withdrawal. The twin imperatives of guaranteeing the jurisdictional stability of courts and the protection of individual rights are often used to justify the use of general principles in these cases. References to stability in these cases can, however, as the final section argues, be used to cover over methodological uncertainties in the process of identifying general principles and the process of gap-filling itself
South Asian employees' experiences of Imposter Phenomenon
Full text linkImposter phenomenon (IP), a lack of self‐belief in one's competence, is recognised as a barrier to career progression.
This study explores workplace experiences of IP among ethnic minority South Asian employees in the UK, including
perceived drivers and impacts. The findings aim to inform evidence‐based interventions to develop and support South
Asian and other ethnic minority employees in the workplace. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 15 South
Asian employees across various sectors in the UK, recruited via a snowball sampling approach. Interview recordings
were transcribed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. We identified four key themes in South Asian employees'
experiences of impostorism. Themes 1 and 2 relate to the internalised socio‐cultural beliefs and organisational
factors that influence the development of IP. Theme 3 encompasses the perceived impact IP has on employees, while
Theme 4 focuses on coping mechanisms. As South Asians are not a homogenous group, further research taking an
intersectional approach is needed to understand nuances within and between minority groups. These may include the
potential influence on IP of generational identity, socio‐economic status, and religious diversity. We identify unique
drivers and impacts of IP related to South Asian socio‐cultural norms and beliefs and provide a new conceptual model.
Methodologically, this study addresses two gaps within the IP literature by sampling the working population and South
Asian employees
Open Access Books: Rights, Ownership and Control
No full textExplore the world of open access books and get the lowdown on who really owns the rights and controls the content.
Publishing books open access (OA) is a less well established route for authors than OA journal articles, but they are gaining traction among academics and there are plans to include an open access monograph requirement in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) post-2029. Lots of different financial models have emerged for OA book publishing, but the Book Processing Charge (BPC) remains dominant for more traditional university presses. Join us for a thought-provoking panel exploring the complexities of licensing, rights, and control in open access publishing. The panel will examine the nuances of Creative Commons licences and explore the tension between open licences and publishing contracts, and will discuss what an open access book contract should actually offer - just the ability to read and share, or the full set of rights you are entitled to as copyright holder under an open access licence?
Our experts will share practical strategies for authors to retain rights through contractual clauses and explain how libraries can advocate for fair agreements, raise awareness of licensing implications, and empower researchers to maintain control over their work. This session is essential for anyone navigating the open-access landscape, and seeking real-world examples and actionable guidance on ownership, responsibility, and the future of open knowledge.
The session will feature the following speakers:
Professor Martin Eve, Professor of Literature, Technology and Publishing, Birkbeck, University of London
Lucy Barnes, Senior Editor and Outreach Coordinator, Open Book Publishers
Professor Aileen Fyfe, Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrew
The Archive at the End of the World: Speculative Preservation and the Politics of Loss
No full textThis paper proposes the possibility that future textual ecologies will inherit an archive marked not by abundance, as is often supposed, but by profound loss, whether from climate catastrophe, economic disaster, or digital decay. How might textual ecologies prepare for such an archive? Drawing on theories of dark archives, disaster librarianship, and post-apocalyptic computing, this paper develops a speculative preservation framework that treats redundancy, community mirroring, and federated metadata as anticipatory responses to (textual) ecological instability. Yet, rather than assuming infinite reproducibility and perpetual abundance, this chapter centres loss as a constitutive horizon for future textual cultures, asking what new forms of reading, ethics, and governance emerge when preservation is no longer guaranteed
Three key lessons learned from over a decade of gaming disorder assessment research
Full text linkSince the recognition of internet gaming disorder (IGD) in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and gaming disorder (GD) in the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases, significant progress has been made toward standardizing assessment practices. However, the present paper argues that three key lessons can be derived when considering the advancements in the field over the past decade. Firstly, rather than developing additional instruments, the field would greatly benefit from unifying existing assessment frameworks and establishing a clinical ‘gold standard’ based on current diagnostic criteria. Secondly, continued development of psychometric assessment alone is insufficient because the field urgently needs a robust theoretical framework that is able to distinguish between excessive and disordered gaming effectively. Without sound a theory, assessment and treatment practices risk ongoing conceptual drift and fragmentation. Finally, despite recent criticisms regarding the use of psychometric instruments and self-report measures, these methodologies remain necessary. While more objective gaming data can be valuable, they also present with important limitations that need to be fully considered. A potential way forward for an effective assessment approach may involve combining both psychometrically robust self-report data with objective data. However, future research must still ensure that assessment instruments undergo rigorous psychometric validation beyond reliability and validity alone. The paper concludes that instead of prioritizing the development of new assessment tools, the field would benefit more from strengthening its theoretical foundation and rigorously evaluating existing diagnostic frameworks and psychometric instruments
Climatic and anthropogenic controls on late Holocene sediment transport to the Gulf of Mexico by the Mississippi River
Full text linkModels of large alluviated rivers suggest that erosional signals from the headwaters are not transported to the marine depocenter over many timescales because of extensive sediment buffering and recycling in flood plains. We present here a new integrated Late Holocene sedimentary record of the Mississippi River, synthesizing earlier analyses and new material from oxbow lakes, filled channel plugs and a continuous core from the delta to reconstruct a detailed 3000-year record of sediment compositions in the lower reaches. As well as major element data and new detrital zircon U-Pb dating since 860 y BP, our study presents a new basin-wide Sr and Nd isotope record. We show that weathering proxies are controlled by grain size, with little evidence for a long-term trend in chemical weathering in the last 3000 years. 87Sr/86Sr, but not εNd values are linked to grain size and the degree of chemical alteration, with coarser material generally lower in 87Sr/86Sr compared to fine sediment.
There is a long-term trend towards more erosion of ancient crust shown in suspended sediment, with greater flux from the Superior Province via the Upper Mississippi, increasing after 2000 y BP, when the climate dried, and humans adopted a more sedentary rather than hunter-gatherer lifestyle. This contrast with the sandy sediment that shows less erosion from the Trans-Hudson, Superior Province and Appalachian until ∼400 years ago. Another change is noted in both muddy and sandy sediment after ∼400 years ago, close to the start of the Little Ice Age, a time of colder and drier climate, when there was a gradual decrease in flux from the Rocky Mountain foreland basin via the Missouri River. The Mississippi River is not fully buffered on centennial scales prior to the installation of man-made levees. Short-term changes in zircon U-Pb populations indicate pulses of sediment supply to the lower reaches, likely related to floods. Maximum sediment supply from the Missouri River occurred at the Last Glacial Maximum and in the recent past (∼10 years).
A drying climate after 1000 years ago increased sediment delivery from the Appalachians, Trans-Hudson and Yavapai terranes by enhancing stream incision while reducing reworking of moraines eroded from the Superior Province. After ∼400 years ago human settlement of the Rocky Mountain foreland enhanced erosion from that region. Modern Mississippi sediment supply is heavily anthropogenically disrupted and thus makes a poor analog for older sediments deposited in the Gulf of Mexico
From pigs to people: what is it like to perform a pig-to-human kidney xenotransplant?
Full text linkSince 2022, genetically modified pig organs have been
transplanted into both deceased and living human
subjects, and first-in-human clinical trials began in 2025.
Yet, little is known about the experience of performing
such procedures. The first kidney xenotransplant
studies involved human brain-dead recipients, with graft
function ranging from hours to months. Interviews were
conducted with one of the first surgeons with experience
in performing a pig-to-human kidney xenotransplant and
analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Following analysis, four PETs were identified: Desiring a
more equitable patient future; Being changed by bonding
with the family; Crossing a boundary without feeling the
difference and Everything changed when the pig kidney
turned pink. As the first exploration of a surgeon’s lived
experience of xenotransplantation, the study highlights
how motivations, uncertainties and ethical commitments
influence engagement with emerging biotechnologies.
While uncertainties remain, the findings provide insight into
how a surgeon interprets and navigates the conceptual
and emotional terrain of crossing into first-in-human
xenotransplantatio
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