Dangerous Pursuits: Mediumship, Mind, and Music by Stephen E. Braude

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 875-881
Author(s):  
Hoyt Edge
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Excellent Work

Stephen Braude is the most prolific of the late 20th and early 21st century philosophers writing about parapsychogy, and his work in the philosophical aspects of parapsychology has been the most influential in this field for the past several decades.  This book encompasses both philosophical issues in parapsychology, as well as studies in spontaneous and mediumistic investigations, and this collection spans the spectrum of his interests, including jazz. His title is an apt warning about the dangers to academics pursuing work in parapsychology; however, some suspicion towards those of us in the field can be mitigated if one produces excellent work in the field of one’s doctorate before tenure decisions, as Braude did. Dangerous Pursuits is composed of previously published articles or book chapters, but they are usually substantially rewritten in a way that makes these chapters accessible to a wide range of people, not only academics.  Although the book is not divided into sections, the chapters are nevertheless arranged skillfully to focus, after an opening chapter on the fear of psi, a topic that Braude returns to throughout the book, on physical mediumship, then more generally on mediumship, and finally on more theoretical topics, with a coda on jazz. 

School Reform and Parental Engagement Learning in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Goodall
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Reform ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Parental Engagement ◽  
Reform Movements ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Per Se

Parental engagement in children and young people’s learning has been shown to be an important lever for school improvement and young people’s outcomes. However, parents are rarely involved in school reform movements. These reform movements are generally centered on the school rather than on improvement of learning per se. Shifting the focus away from the school and to learning as an overarching aim requires the inclusion of and partnership with parents. This is a new way of understanding school reform but has the best chance of supporting all students, including those not best served by the schooling systems in the early 21st century. The reforms here are chiefly concerned with U.K. schooling systems, but could be more widely applicable, and call on a wide range of evidence, from the United Kingdom and beyond.

scholarly journals Supernatural Characters in the Quasi-Historical Discourse of Modern Ukrainian Literature: Specificity and Functions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-63
Author(s):  
Oleksandra Nikolova ◽  
Kateryna Vasylyna
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Historical Novels ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Global Problem ◽  
The Past ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Historical Past ◽  
The Early 21St Century

: The article is aimed at the study of Ukrainian quasi-historical novels of the early 21st century, characterized by the renunciation of “objectivity” of the narrative and emphasized the role of imagination. These are the pieces by Bakalets and Yarish (“From the Seventh Bottom”), Vynnychuk (“The Pharmacist”, “Lutetia”), and by Yatsenko (“Nechui. Nemov. Nebach”). The study reveals the features and functions of fantastic characters in the abovementioned novels. These fictional images of modern Ukrainian quasihistorical literary discourse are characterized by infernality, grotesque anthropomorphism, destruction of traditional antinomy “otherworldly– earthly/human”, philosophical and ironic coloring. Interpreting the fantasy in quasi-historical novels is expedient in the context of the global problem of perception of historical past by people of the 21st Century, with an emphasis on significant changes in public consciousness motivating writers to “Re-write/Reimagine the past”. The spread of this phenomenon reveals public distrust of the authorities, offering “correct” answers to the questions about past events, protest against permanent manipulation of historical facts (the tendency of growing consciousness and intellectualization of society).

Artificial Languages

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Reed Libert
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
A Priori ◽  
International Communication ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Personal Projects ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mixed Languages

Artificial languages—languages which have been consciously designed—have been created for more than 900 years, although the number of them has increased considerably in recent decades, and by the early 21st century the total figure probably was in the thousands. There have been several goals behind their creation; the traditional one (which applies to some of the best-known artificial languages, including Esperanto) is to make international communication easier. Some other well-known artificial languages, such as Klingon, have been designed in connection with works of fiction. Still others are simply personal projects. A traditional way of classifying artificial languages involves the extent to which they make use of material from natural languages. Those artificial languages which are created mainly by taking material from one or more natural languages are called a posteriori languages (which again include well-known languages such as Esperanto), while those which do not use natural languages as sources are a priori languages (although many a posteriori languages have a limited amount of a priori material, and some a priori languages have a small number of a posteriori components). Between these two extremes are the mixed languages, which have large amounts of both a priori and a posteriori material. Artificial languages can also be classified typologically (as natural languages are) and by how and how much they have been used. Many linguists seem to be biased against research on artificial languages, although some major linguists of the past have been interested in them.

scholarly journals The meaning of Moscow: “Non-lethal” weapons and international law in the early 21st century

2005 ◽  
Vol 87 (859) ◽  
pp. 525-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Fidler
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Early 21St Century

AbstractAt the intersection of new weapon technologies and international humanitarian law, so-called “non-lethal” weapons have become an area of particular interest. This article analyses the relationship between “non-lethal” weapons and international law in the early 21st century by focusing on the most seminal incident to date in the short history of the “non-lethal” weapons debate, the use of an incapacitating chemical to end a terrorist attack on a Moscow theatre in October 2002. This tragic incident has shown that rapid technological change will continue to stress international law on the development and use of weaponry but in ways more politically charged, legally complicated and ethically challenging than the application of international humanitarian law in the past.

scholarly journals A Joint Manifesto for Design Studios based on Residuals and Experiences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hare Kılıçaslan ◽  
Pınar Dinç Kalaycı
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Linear Process ◽  
Architectural Education ◽  
Design Knowledge ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Restructuring Process ◽  
The Universe

Architectural education encompasses different approaches from past to present; it is continuously researched and is both vocational and personality training. An updated manifesto for the current era is essential to ensure that the design approaches and tools updated by the boundless opportunities presented by the 21st century do not overwhelm the proven principles from the past. In the early 21st century, the restructuring process of architectural education is being reawakened through unique education approaches. The studio that constitutes the backbone of design education must also produce the manifesto. Manifesto principles that express the approaches related to the stages and are fictionalised through binary propositions need to provide a paradigm that exceeds a linear process for the studio environment. The proposition for all actors of the design process and learning programmes is based on an independent configuration in which studios focus on learners. Manifestos need to be renewed as long as the epoch is flourishing, while concerns about the internalisation of design knowledge and ways of thinking, skills, and experiences exist. The present manifesto is also a future building block. To rest studio manifestos on a joint manifesto similar to one proposed in this text, because of renewed and diversified practices, it is necessary to maintain an architectural education that does not lose itself and people within the universe of infinite possibilities.

Online Comments and Journalism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Wolfgang
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Participatory Journalism ◽  
Online Comments ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Constant Growth

Shortly after its emergence as a tool for participatory journalism, online commenting became a popular format for audience public discourse and a subject of controversy for professional journalists. The early 21st century has seen a constant growth in research considering how online comments have influenced journalism by providing new ways to understand the perspective of the audience, by changing the routines and practices of the newsroom, and by encouraging a reconsideration of how content influences readers. News audiences, generally, have been relatively quiet and passive in the past, but online comments have given them the opportunity to speak alongside journalists on professional platforms. This shift in news-mediated public discourse has the potential to reshape the journalist−audience relationship in substantial ways. The research on commenting has provided new evidence on how journalistic practices are changing, how people perceive and process information online, and how journalists negotiate technological change while trying not to upend the profession. However, there is a need for more research that explores critical questions related to comment quality, changing journalistic norms, and the relationship between journalist identity and technology. Online commenting has the potential to help fulfill the journalistic norms of providing a space for public discourse and promoting diverse views from within the community. This potential, however, is reliant upon journalists who uphold the civic function of journalism’s role.

Heritage and the Use of the Past in East Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Giblin
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Heritage Studies ◽  
Critical Heritage

This article outlines historical and ongoing uses of the past and academic heritage research into those activities within eastern Africa. The use of the past will be discussed as a deep historical practice in the area that is the EAC in the 21st century, demonstrating how political elites have constructed versions of the past to suit contemporary and future aims for hundreds of years. Then there is an outline of the colonial introduction of formalized Western heritage institutions and legislation in the early 20th century, the subsequent nationalization of these in the mid-20th century, and the late-20th- and early-21st-century internationalization of heritage. These overviews are followed by a discussion of different approaches to heritage research including early studies of museums, traditions, heritage management, archaeological introspections, and more recent “critical heritage studies,” which interrogate the use of the past as a form of cultural production.

Current declines of Pecos River (New Mexico, USA) streamflow in a 700-year context

The Holocene ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant L Harley ◽  
Justin T Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Streamflow Reconstruction ◽  
The Past ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Pecos River ◽  
N 93

The Pecos River provides an important source of water for New Mexico and Texas, US, and Mexico. Severe and prolonged drought combined with increasing temperatures during the early 21st century boosted attention on water resources and allocation management in the American West. We provide a tree-ring-based streamflow reconstruction for the Pecos River for the period 1310–2013 CE for the overarching purpose of placing the current Pecos River streamflow declines in a multi-century context. Over the past ca. 700 years, dry events ( n = 93) that lasted at least 2 years were more common than wet events ( n = 76), wherein flow was below/above the instrumental mean (61.6 m3 s−1). Although more prolonged droughts occurred during the 15th and 18th centuries, the gage record (1930–2013 CE) captures the full range and variability of flow extremes within the context of the past 700 years. The 11-year drought of 1772–1782 was the highest ranked based on magnitude + intensity below the instrumental mean, slightly edging out the 1415–1425 and 1950–1957 events. The driest events that have occurred from the 14th through the 20th centuries are challenged by flow conditions since the turn of the 21st century. The 2000–2006 and 2011–2013 dry periods ranked 6th and 13th, respectively, though the intensity (−40 m3 s−1 yr−1) of the 2011–2013 event exceeded all higher ranked droughts. The lowest single water-year flow in the reconstruction was shared by years 1904 and 2002, during which the flow of the Pecos River was estimated at 8.1 m3 s−1. Other extreme low-flow years were 1685 (9.5 m3 s−1) and 1579 (9.8 m3 s−1), but are eclipsed by 1904 and 2002 when considering the lower bounds of bootstrapped confidence limits of the reconstruction. Increased flow variability combined with projected increased temperatures and decreased precipitation will likely present new challenges to water resource managers, especially given impending anthropogenic climate change.

Assam

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Northeast India ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Great Mother ◽  
Northern India ◽  
Local Practices ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Many

Assam constitutes the region of northeast India bounded by the modern nations of Bangladesh and Bhutan, as well as by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Bangla, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Nagaland. Known in ancient sources as Prāgjyotiṣpūra (the “city of eastern lights”) and as Kāmarūpa (the “form” or “place of desire”), Assam remains one of the least studied and poorly understood areas of South Asian Hinduism. The home to more than forty recognized tribal communities, Assam has tremendous religious, ethnic, and linguistic diversity, which has helped shape the unique forms of Hinduism that have flourished in the region. Moreover, Assam also has a long reputation as a realm of magic, witchcraft, and the supernatural; for example, even in the early 21st century, the town of Mayong in Morigaon district is infamous as the quintessential “land of black magic.” The historical roots of Hinduism in Assam date back to at least the Varman dynasty of the 4th to 7th centuries, when Vedic sacrifices such as the aśvamedha and other Brahmanical rites were widespread. However, most of the kings of Assam from the Varmans onward came from non-Hindu tribal backgrounds, and the form of Hinduism that developed in the region has long been a complex negotiation between Sanskritic traditions and indigenous practices from the many local communities of the region. During the Assamese Pāla dynasty of the 8th to 12th centuries, Śākta traditions became dominant, and major texts such as the Kālikā Purāṇa were composed, praising the great mother goddess Kāmākhyā (goddess of desire) and her retinue of yoginīs. A unique form of Hindu tantra probably also began to flourish at this time, and Assam has a long reputation as one of the oldest heartlands or perhaps even the original homeland of tantra in South Asia. The Ahom kings of the 13th to 19th centuries continued the patronage of powerful goddesses while also building temples to Śiva, Viṣṇu, and others. During the 16th century, Assam like much of northern India witnessed a powerful revival of Vaiṣṇava bhakti, led by the devotional reformer Śaṅkaradeva (b. 1449–d. 1568). Through Śaṅkaradeva’s influence, Vaiṣṇavism remains a dominant cultural and religious force in Assam to this day. However, even in the 21st century, Assamese Hinduism remains incredibly diverse, and one can still see a wide range of indigenous, folk, and local practices that range from magic and menstruation festivals to spirit possession and ecstatic dance performances.

The Institutional Turn

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Rosen
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Disciplinary Power ◽  
Literary Scholarship ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Neoliberal Ideology ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
The Many

Since around the turn of the millennium, Anglo-American literary scholarship has been marked by a remarkable shift in its attention to and its attitude toward institutions. Within this shift or “institutional turn,” two interrelated movements can be detected: 1) a departure from thinking about literature as a social institution, toward a sociological approach that examines the many and varied organizations and institutions in and through which literature and its value are produced, distributed, and consumed; and 2) a tendency to revise earlier critiques of institutions, which were often indebted to the work of Michel Foucault, and which emphasized their regulating and disciplinary power, in favor of a more balanced view of institutions as enabling as well as constraining, and in some cases, an outright advocacy for their value and the need to conserve them. Both of these movements stem from scholars’ recognition of the heterogeneity of actual institutions. Rather than understanding literature as something constituted by monolithic, homogenizing forces, early 21st-century literary scholars tend to emphasize the way it is generated and sustained by a wide range of practices occurring in an equally disparate set of institutional locations. Since the early 2000s, scholars have undertaken to analyze the workings of these institutions as the more immediate context in which literary production occurs and is disseminated—a middle range of actors and organizations situated between broader social and historical currents and literary texts. The more charitable attitude toward institutions also recognizes the crucial roles institutions play in the teaching and study of literature. Scholars have thus begun defending the work of institutions, in response to early 21st-century conditions of neoliberalism, under which governments have withdrawn state support for public institutions, including institutions of higher education. A neoliberal ideology that reduces all value to market value presents a threat to institutions that are not primarily dedicated to the generation of economic profit. Thus both of the movements toward institutional study are necessarily bound up with a tradition of scholars who have produced “institutional histories” of literature departments and of the discipline of literary studies. Under neoliberal conditions, such histories have gained urgency, giving rise to a renewed call to account for the value of literary study and of educational institutions in terms that do not reduce this value to service to the economy.

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