Arts & Humanities

From Charlemagne to Obama: Unifying ancestries and Western European genealogy

What do Britain’s Prince George and former American President Barack Obama have in common? The answer: they are both descendants of Charlemagne, the 9th-century Holy Roman Emperor. Reagan W Moore, Emeritus Professor at the School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA is creating a genealogical history of the Western world. Based on the […]

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Arts & Humanities

The paradox of Western hegemony of human nature

The world faces unprecedented social and environmental challenges that demand a coordinated, global response. However, such a response is hampered by a conundrum. The challenges are partly the outcome of Western notions of what it is to be human, yet those very notions will probably dictate the spirit and strength of how the challenges are addressed. Dr Michael Zichy, a […]

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Arts & Humanities

Blurred boundaries: Art in the age of social media

What divides ‘serious’ or high art from ‘popular’ art? And has the line between these become more blurred in the digital era? These questions are asked by Professor Hans Abbing, a practising visual artist and professor of art sociology and economics at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In his book The economies of serious and popular art: […]

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Arts & Humanities

Green baize gladiators: Bridge as a mindsport for all

Electronic sports, or esports, have evolved the concept of ‘sport’, especially around the mental acuity needed to play. Professor Samantha Punch at the University of Stirling, together with Dr David Scott at Abertay University, Scotland, see similarities in the card game bridge. They are helping establish a new academic subdiscipline – the sociology of mindsport. In the process, Punch and […]

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Arts & Humanities

Reliably exploring the presence of languages on the Internet

The Internet is a precious resource for linguists as it offers an easily accessible and broad space where they can observe the evolution of languages over time. Daniel Pimienta, Head of the Observatory of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in the Internet (OBDILCI), has developed a method to measure the presence of languages on the Web, which was greatly enhanced in […]

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Arts & Humanities

The Church and Academia model: A powerhouse for harnessing pain-related prayer research

There are limited alternatives to standard prescription therapy for those suffering from chronic pain. While the biopsychosocial model of pain is well established, it often neglects the influence of religious and spiritual factors on pain. Dr Marta Illueca, a leader in the Episcopal Church in Delaware, has collaborated with Dr Samantha Meints at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School in […]

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Arts & Humanities

Transgressing gender and genre: Isabella Whitney’s appropriation of London

The poet Isabella Whitney is considered the first professional female writer in England to have had secular poetry published under her own name. Dr Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier, professor of English literature at Hildesheim University, Germany, explores how Whitney presents herself as a respectable female poet in a male-dominated era by ‘appropriating’ the city of London, irrevocably weaving herself into its history […]

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Arts & Humanities

Defining the rule of law in terms of liberty and equality

The relationship between liberty, the individual freedom from social oppression and restrictions, and equality, which entails providing equal rights and opportunities to all segments of the population, is intricate and often disputed. Isabel Trujillo, professor in legal philosophy at the University of Palermo, Italy, explores this relationship in the context of the rule of law – the notion that all […]

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Arts & Humanities

#MeToo: A political issue in India’s digital presence

#MeToo and #MeTooIndia, which exploded on social media in 2017 and 2018 respectively, drove an increase in online activism related to sexual violence, harassment, assault, and rape. Despite this and the significant numbers of women voters and political candidates, violence against women still fails to feature as a political campaign issue in India. Dr. Pallavi Guha, a researcher and author […]

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Arts & Humanities

Boat trip: A significant panorama of Tang Dynasty river basins

Dr Wende Chen of Huaqiao University, China, has analysed Chinese poetry to reveal historical geographies of Tang Dynasty river basins. Taking the Chinese character for ‘boat’ as the dependent variable, characters with significant statistical correlation were identified. These characters were classified into nine themes: structure and use of boats, geographical locations, natural water systems, flora and fauna, official travel, economic […]

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