Arts & Humanities

Challenging established theory: History of Japanese basketball

Basketball was introduced to Japan as early as 1902 as a sport in mission schools, according to new research by Dr Tetsuji Kakiyama, Professor of Sports and Health Sciences of Fukuoka University, Japan. His research overthrows established theories about the transfer of the game to Japan and shows how basketball was first played by girls in Japan who were taught […]

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Arts & Humanities

Empowering communities in the face of grand challenges: The critical role of local food systems and democratized science

Feeding a rapidly growing global population is nearly impossible. Food production is increasingly controlled by powerful organizations, climate change is negatively impacting food production, inequality is growing globally, and menacing geopolitical shifts are likely to make matters worse. Dr William Lacy, a leading sociologist and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of California Davis, USA, […]

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Arts & Humanities

Back to the future: The Secret of Kells brings the past to life

It’s tempting to think that our global, multimedia age is the most multicultural and visually literate in history. However, a new study by Lisabeth Buchelt, of the University of Nebraska—Omaha probes the relationship between a contemporary Irish animated film and the 1,200-year-old masterpiece of Celtic art that inspired it. She finds that the modern age is not the first to […]

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Arts & Humanities

Binarism grammatical lacuna: The impacts of grammar on non-binary people

Social injustices associated with gender are becoming more disruptive and attracting particular attention. In her new paper, Carla Carmona from the University of Seville in Spain looks at the relationship between language and binary ideology and how a language’s grammar can further marginalise non-binary people. She explores what she has termed ‘binarism grammatical lacuna’ (BGL), which occurs when the grammar […]

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Arts & Humanities

The evolution of IP, competition, and healthcare law in line with lightning-speed innovation

In a series of recently published articles, Takanori Abe, attorney and guest professor at Osaka University in Japan, considers some of the complex intellectual property challenges arising in line with fast-paced technological innovation. These include rights relating to the manufacture and sale of medical products as well as questions of ownership of technological features that have become integrated into products […]

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Arts & Humanities

Does police officer deception undermine US constitutional law?

Deceptions by law enforcement officers raise important questions about constitutional law and the principles of criminal justice. Professor Charles MacLean is Director of Professional Peace Officer Education at the US Metro State University’s School of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice in Minnesota, and Lecturer in Constitutional Law at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He considers the question of the ‘social […]

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Arts & Humanities

Overturning oppression in the US child welfare system

In the US there’s a growing call from academics and advocates with significant experience in the country’s child welfare system for fundamental reform. Professors Lisa Merkel-Holguin and Ida Drury, colleagues from the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect at the University of Colorado, and a national advocate, have catalogued multiple stages within the current […]

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Arts & Humanities

The past that we know and the past that was: Exploring Constructed Past Theory

How do we come to know the past? Constructed Past Theory (CPT) claims that the past, as we understand it, is not what existed or happened but is the product of cognitive processes. By using concepts and methods from semiotics, archival science, and computer science, researchers are beginning to understand those processes. Dr Kenneth Thibodeau, a researcher with the InterPARES […]

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Arts & Humanities

Taste and place: How cuisine affects geographical identity

Junfan Lin is a postdoctoral researcher at the Sun Yat-sen University, China. His research interests lie in Chinese cuisine and culinary tourism, where he has helped to rethink Chinese food through a geographical lens. In his research paper, Taste and place of Nanxiong cuisine in South China, he specifically explores the identity of the city, Nanxiong. Through interviews and observation, […]

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Arts & Humanities

What constitutes optimal leisure?

Large sections of our society have had an increasing amount of time on their hands outside of work since the inception of the industrial age. People have developed multiple ways of occupying this time through varied and multifaceted leisure activities. These activities have been extensively researched and documented in recent decades, and Professor Robert Stebbins at the University of Calgary […]

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