Through the Looking Glass: A Scoping Review of Cinema and Video Therapy

Background: Cinematherapy and video treatments are artistic therapeutic techniques by which the individuals are exposed to their psycho-physical difficulties through the stories of the characters on the screen who are coping with the same issues that the patients are. Although these techniques are increasingly common within modern art therapies, there are neither comprehensive classifications of the different approaches nor agreement on their effectiveness. We performed a scoping review, describing different methodological approaches and outcome measures in cinematherapy and video treatments.Methodology: We searched articles in PubMed, PsycINFO and Google Scholar. We included: (i) articles in which subjects were treated for their difficulties with videos or films, (ii) articles written in English. Review articles and papers describing a research protocol without data collection were not included.Results: We analyzed 38 studies. Thirty-six reported a positive effect of the treatment. Seven studies used classical cinematherapy, adopting a qualitative approach to measure the therapy outcome. Thirty-one studies used different video treatments, 8 of which were defined as randomized controlled trials with specific objective therapy outcomes. Studies were mainly focused on behavioral and psychological difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorders and Schizophrenia.Conclusion: Studies using video treatments more often rely upon structured experimental designs; on the contrary, those who used classical cinematherapy produced descriptive results. A more standardized methodological approach in terms of experimental design, procedure, and objective outcome measure is needed to provide evidence on the effectiveness of these techniques, promoting its application in the clinical field.

Through the Looking Glass: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed International Branch Campuses’ Academic Experience and Home Campus Relationship

This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the academic experience at international branch campuses (IBCs) and has changed the relationship between the IBC and the home campus. Semi-structured interviews with 26 leaders, academic staff, and students at seven IBCs in Malaysia revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the experience at IBCs in unique ways, including collaboration and communication with the home campus; increasing campus-specific resources for student wellbeing; and playing a larger role in student enrollment, recruitment, and mobility initiatives. Findings provide useful insights for higher education institutions (HEIs) engaged in transnational education (TNE).

Novice Programming Environments

In 2011, the author published an article that looked at the state of the art in novice programming environments. At the time, there had been an increase in the number of programming environments that were freely available for use by novice programmers, particularly children and young people. What was interesting was that they offered a relatively sophisticated set of development and support features within motivating and engaging environments, where programming could be seen as a means to a creative end, rather than an end in itself. Furthermore, these environments incorporated support for the social and collaborative aspects of learning. The article considered five environments—Scratch, Alice, Looking Glass, Greenfoot, and Flip—examining their characteristics and investigating the opportunities they might offer to educators and learners alike. It also considered the broader implications of such environments for both teaching and research. In this chapter, the author revisits the same five environments, looking at how they have changed in the intervening years. She considers their evolution in relation to changes in the field more broadly (e.g., an increased focus on “programming for all”) and reflects on the implications for teaching, as well as research and further development.

Through the looking glass: perceiving risk and emotions toward cosmetic procedure engagement

Purpose This research aims to develop a user risk segmentation typology and implement a method that traces how user emotions adapt before, after and toward a next cosmetic procedure. It introduces the user risk segments to an empirical framework to explain re-engagement with the procedure. Design/methodology/approach A survey was self-administered to online consumer panels in the USA. The survey targeted users who had previously undertaken one of three elective procedures, namely, Botox (N = 550), hair transplant (N = 350) or liposuction (N = 350). Findings The typology identified timid image seekers, daring image crafters, approval-seeking socialites and mainstream image adopters. The method tracking user emotions found significant differences before, after and toward a next cosmetic procedure in the user risk segments. The framework predicted user re-engagement with the procedure for each segment. Research limitations/implications The typology presents more sophisticated user risk profiles. The method maps adapting user emotions toward engagement pre- and post-procedure. However, findings are limited to the USA and three cosmetic procedures. Practical implications The typology offers a profile of users and their risk perceptions of a behavior. The method presents an instrument that follows how user emotions adapt. The framework advances understanding of user re-engagement with the behavior. Originality/value Arguably, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to explore how perceived risk operates on emotional states and adaptation, which manifest user well-being and impact user behavior.

Through the Rule of Law Looking Glass

Transposing rule of law principles from the national to the international level, in particular to international organizations, still raises questions and can be problematic. However, rule of law considerations play an important role when international organizations exercise a substantial amount of public authority and may directly affect states as well as individuals. The World Health Organization (WHO), unlike other international organizations, has a constitutional mandate to prevent and respond to international acute emergencies in the form of disease outbreaks and pandemics. Its main normative tool is the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), that represent a breakthrough from past instruments but also raise questions and challenges that can be effectively analyzed from a rule of law perspective. This approach applies in particular to ambiguities in important parts of the IHR affecting their relevance and effectiveness; lack of clarity for processes leading to sensitive executive decisions; the absence of compliance assessment mechanisms resulting in lack of accountability for states parties; and an inadequate inclusion of human rights guarantees. The analysis is extended beyond WHO’s functions, to the impact of COVID-19 on the organization’s governance as well as its internal management.

OBEDIÊNCIA DISSIMULADA: uma discussão sobre a Alice alternativa de Juliana Horatia Ewing

Os romances Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) e Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871), ambos de autoria de Lewis Carroll (1831-1898), tiveram êxito estrondoso desde o momento de seu lançamento. Conforme relata Carolyn Sigler (2015), os livros já figuravam entre os favoritos das crianças vitorianas no final do século XIX e, hoje, configuram-se como as obras mais citadas depois da Bíblia e das peças de Shakespeare. Seu sucesso inicial foi imediatamente sucedido por uma diversidade de hipertextos que responderam e celebraram os livros de Carroll. Dentre eles, destaca-se o conto “Amelia and the Dwarfs”, de autoria de Juliana Horatia Ewing (1841-1885) e publicado em 1870, na Aunt Judy’s Magazine, revista dedicada ao público infantil. Este artigo busca fornecer uma possibilidade de leitura dessa obra, sobretudo a partir de seu discurso de duas vozes (GILBERT; GUBAR, 2020): se, superficialmente, a narradora apresenta uma história consonante à moralidade que marcava as histórias infantis da época; numa camada mais profunda, manifesta-se uma protagonista que vence as desventuras através de sua sagacidade e capacidade de dissimulação. Justifica-se esta contribuição a partir dos pressupostos da crítica feminista, que busca redescobrir escritoras não-canônicas e propor novas leituras de textos considerados menores ou de pouca importância na história da literatura (PAUL, 1997).