This book considers the specific features of forced migration research, which pose unique challenges when analysing data, and offers a range of analysis tools from discourse analysis. Drawing on real-world case studies from around the world, but particularly from the Global South, this book guides researchers from all disciplines on how to leverage on linguistic tools and approaches that can enhance their forced migration researchers. It provides researchers, students, and teachers with an overview of forced migration research approaches and methods. It then covers concepts from discourse analysis in combination with other disciplines to study complex migration experiences. It presents a unique focus on the peculiarities of analysing forced migration in the Global South, with practical guidance on using discourse analysis to examine forced migrant identities and representations in variety of social situations and text types. Each chapter features a specific discourse analytic approach that is used on a migration-related data set and includes a range of examples and guided activities. This book provides essential reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as migration researchers interested in expanding their data analysis repertoire.

The rise of Hollywood's data and algorithm specialists and their growing influence on creative decisions

In Hollywood today, thousands of data specialists work for streaming video platforms, playing a role not just in distribution and marketing but also in decisions about content and production. In Data-Driven Hollywood, Violaine Roussel examines the emergence of this new category of professionals at the heart of the Hollywood dream factory. Roussel shows how the rise of data and algorithm specialists has transformed organizations and rearranged power relationships within them. Drawing on extensive interviews and in situ observations, she describes the ways that technical "data work" carried out by professionals at streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ has had a significant effect on creative decisions.

Rather than fetishizing data and algorithmic models, Roussel explores the practices of the professionals who shape them, manipulate them, and give them power. She examines the relationships of these workers with traditional producers, describing legitimacy struggles and the eventual stabilization of new professional arrangements. Roussel's account of the ways that data specialists deploy algorithmic models to reinvent their industry's approach to content, artists, and the market-the first in-depth sociological study of the rise of this new profession-reveals the new forms of power and knowledge at play in today's Hollywood.

This book explores the impact of digital algorithms on visual culture, examining how these technologies influence the creation, circulation, interpretation, and archiving of images. It presents a focused analysis of how algorithms reshape key sociological themes such as power, social relations, labour, racialisation, gender, and representation. Through a combination of case studies and theoretical essays, the book highlights the algorithmic shift within visual sociology, addressing crucial questions: Can algorithms interpret images like humans? How do they affect our understanding of subjectivity, agency, truth, and creativity? With perspectives from multiple geographies and cultural contexts and the analysis of visual phenomena across various digital platforms, this volume is essential for students and scholars in visual sociology, digital sociology, and visual studies. It serves as an accessible, thought-provoking resource for understanding the rapidly evolving relationship between visual culture and technological intervention.

How the police in Minneapolis used electoral politics to accrue power and avoid accountability.

The 2020 murder of George Floyd made Minneapolis synonymous with unjust policing and the pain and outrage left in its wake. The city became ground zero for police reform in the United States-even though liberal politicians in Minnesota had promised, and delivered, police reforms for decades. Centered on professionalization, these changes inadvertently exacerbated injustice. Better training and higher standards broadened the influence of the police, who then claimed expertise in public safety. They deployed it to bargain for governmental support, even when they treated residents unfairly. Though Black, Indigenous, and gay residents resisted, the political power amassed by the police rendered real change almost impossible.

In A Police State, historian and fourth-generation Minneapolis resident Michael J. Lansing chronicles how the police became a political force in one of the nation's most liberal cities. Lansing shows how, in the years after World War II, public safety policies that appealed to voters in the overwhelmingly white city protected and expanded police discretion. As union members, administrators, and citizens, officers shaped these policies to shield themselves and their violent actions from scrutiny. They campaigned for better wages, secured legal safeguards, resisted race-neutral policing, and elected one of their own to the mayor's office. Ultimately, they used democratic institutions to cultivate and sustain a police state that protected white people and harmed people of color. Lansing uncovers this dysfunctional relationship between a city and its cops while illuminating a larger American story about reform, resistance, and democracy.

A significant exploration of policing politics, this book helps us understand the history that led to George Floyd's murder-and insists that the future of community safety depends on reenvisioning the role of police in our society.

An essential guide to giving effective and engaging talks for academics at all career stages, across the humanities, sciences, and social sciences

This book is for anyone in academia who will ever have to give a talk-which is just about everyone in academia. Presenting research is one of the most important tasks academics undertake, but few receive formal training in effective public speaking. In How to Give a Good Academic Talk, Sharon Marcus fills this gap, offering a practical, research-informed guide to an activity that can challenge even seasoned scholars. Marcus, who has given many academic talks in her career-and listened to even more-blends insights from learning and cognitive science, communications, rhetoric, and performance theory with her own seasoned judgment and firsthand observation to provide a pragmatic repertoire of dos and don'ts.

Each chapter addresses a central component of successful presentations, illustrated with examples drawn from a wide variety of academic talks, many available online. Marcus's cross-disciplinary perspective allows her to identify elements that all good academic talks have in common, while remaining attentive to field-specific norms. She defines what an academic talk is and isn't, and identifies its most important and challenging task: engaging the audience. How to Give a Good Academic Talk covers the beginnings and endings of talks, Q&A sessions, the design and use of slides, delivery, rehearsals, video conferencing platforms-and even offers wardrobe advice. Marcus's essential guide equips academics to communicate their ideas with confidence, precision, and intellectual generosity.

This collection explores the value and meaning of performing arts for young children (birth-6 years old) with a focus on how children aesthetically perceive and make meaning of art. The premise of the book is that children perceive through the senses; the original Greek meaning of the word "aesthetic." The perception of art by very young children has not been sufficiently researched until the 21st century nor taken into account as something that may be of value for young children. This book redirects this notion by connecting the young child as a human being with performance perception theory and early childhood development theories. It demonstrates the value of performance for and with young children and highlights their capacity for meaning making. The chapters rely on theories of child and childhood, performance perception theory and audience and performance analyses from multiple perspectives and in multiple global contexts, demonstrating the impact of performing arts experiences in educating the whole child.

The volume engages scholars in a systematic, collective, and multi-disciplinary exercise in renaissance thinking that showcases the breadth, scope, theories, methods, and potentialities of positive communication. The volume creates new links between the field of positive communication and allied concepts/fields/agencies (e.g. John's Hopkins University's Center for a Livable Future). Contributions also connect the theory and practice of positive communication to the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, the work showcases scholars' design-thinking connecting positive communication topic areas to the concept of "livable futures."

This book contains an Open Access Chapter.

Innovative Learning Environments offers a comprehensive conceptual and theoretical toolkit to support thorough investigations of transformative, innovative, and non-traditional learning spaces in schools. In these spaces, innovative design and pedagogy are at the nexus of new school constructions and the redevelopment of existing schools.

Addressing a gap in existing research, contributions from leading scholars in Learning Environments research present clear entries elucidating concepts and theories that are relevant to the study of Innovative Learning Environments. Readers will find these entries valuable for practical application as they illustrate how these concepts and theories enhance practice within non-traditional schooling spaces.

This concise yet comprehensive volume is invaluable for both newcomers and experienced practitioners, scholars, or designers in the field of Innovative Learning Environments. By focusing on pedagogy and design, Innovative Learning Environments elucidates the origins and purposes of the spatial turn and its impact on learning.

This edited volume explores how Hindus and Hinduism are represented in popular media-from films (Hindi and other Indian language films) and news media (Indian and Western) to stand-up comedy, as well as from devotional music to political art. Featuring contributions from scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and media studies, it examines portrayals-both representative and distorted-of Hindu beliefs, symbols, and practices. It includes a first-of-its-kind analysis of Indian stand-up comedy's engagement with religion, as well as critical studies of films like Padmaavat and the exoticization and demonization of tantric rituals. This collection offers valuable insights for academics and general readers interested in global perceptions of the world's third-largest religion, Hinduism, and how Hindus are presented, represented, characterized, and misrepresented. Given the lack of research on these issues, this anthology will provide the energy and direction for studies on identity, religion, and media literacy.

How do the media represent Hindus and Hinduism? Asking this question is itself contested, as the conflicts among and between Hindus, and among Hindus and others in India, are spiral-bound by the presence, challenges, and successes of Hindus abroad. The essays in this anthology offer a range of "experiences, voices, and disciplines of expertise and authority". Some chapters are grounded in empirically rigorous primary data collection projects, while some are based on equally rigorous historical research. Other chapters rely on observations and case studies of recent trends and themes in social media and mainstream media representations of Hinduism. As the editors point out, "The media are global, and communicating to the 'masses' does not just involve offering facts but influencing the readers'/viewers'/listeners' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. It is no longer 'big media' targeting 'mass audiences,' but a variety of media platforms available to influential institutions and individuals alike, who offer material to anyone who has access to the world, which is now in everyone's pockets through their smartphones."

This book offers a pioneering exploration of how digital influencers are shaping body perceptions and affecting the physical and emotional well-being of children and adolescents in the digital age. Bringing together media and communication studies, psychology, advertising, and youth studies, the volume analyzes influencer ecologies that span fitfluencers, kidfluencers, microinfluencers, and AI-generated virtual personas, and traces their effects on body image, mental health, consumer socialization, and digital well-being.

Bringing together chapters written by researchers from different countries - Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United States - this contributed volume analyzes how content produced by digital influencers about mental health, physical exercises, food consumption, physical appearance and body image impact children's and adolescents health and well-being in the real world. The volume concludes with evidence-informed guidance for educators, families, platforms, and policymakers, emphasizing disclosure standards, protections for minors, and AI and media literacy to support more livable digital environments.

Digital Influencers and Children and Youth Well-Being will be of interest to researchers from various disciplines, such as health, developmental and social psychology; public health; education; and media and communication studies. It will also be a valuable tool for psychologists, educators, social workers and public health professionals directly working with children and adolescents or involved with the formulation and implementation of public policies for these age groups.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of English language education (ELE) practices since its adaptation into formal education seven decades ago in Nepal. It serves as a compilation of empirical studies on all aspects of Nepalese ELE practices from hand-picked scholars, and presents a description of the current state of affairs of Nepalese ELE practices.

It articulates the concerns and challenges that English language practitioners face between the theoretical standpoints and their implicational concerns in relation to the practice of English, and showcases the diverse states and practices of ELE. Written around practice themes and contexts in which the Nepalese ELE is most resilient, the chapters reveal evolving perspectives and practices adopted by English Language Teaching (ELT) practitioners in their respective contexts.

This book serves as a useful resource for teachers, teacher trainers, researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders who are involved in ELE. It is also a helpful guide for mobile practitioners who teach or plan to teach across international geographical boundaries.

This volume provides a comprehensive exploration of the transformative journey educational leaders undertake, emphasizing the symbiosis of transformational and servant leadership. Chapters seek to address the critical need for educational leaders to adapt to contemporary challenges, adopting leadership styles that not only inspire positive change but also prioritize service and ethical decision-making.The book encompasses a multifaceted examination of leadership theories, starting with an introduction that sets the stage for understanding the evolution of leadership in education. The subsequent sections delve into the core tenets of both transformational and servant leadership, offering real-world applications and case studies to illustrate their practical implications in educational settings. Highlighting the voices of prominent educational leaders through interviews and personal reflections, the book brings a human touch to leadership metamorphosis. By incorporating real-world narratives, readers can gain valuable insights from those who have successfully embraced and navigated the complexities of transformational and servant leadership.

This book focuses on individual basic skills and their mutual independence, and when these are appropriately challenged, they form the backbone of creativity. This volume discuses research findings, as well as points out the multidisciplinary significance across psychology, sport sciences and educational sciences. The book will introduce the concepts of basic skills and how these interact during learning and development, and when these processes are individually targeted with appropriate challenges, they can set the stage for the highest skill levels and expertise where creativity typically signifies an elite performer. We aim to increase the readers' understanding and knowledge regarding the concept of creativity as a significant part of high skill - high expertise across fields, and the underlying processes that can lead to the emergence of creativity.

The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne marked a decisive moment in international diplomacy, laying the foundations for stability and peaceful coexistence in Southeast Europe and the Middle East. By completing the transition from empire to nation-state, the treaty established internationally recognized borders, restored sovereignty, and replaced prolonged conflict with a durable legal framework that continues to underpin regional peace a century later.

This volume brings together leading scholars to examine the negotiations, legal innovations, and long-term significance of the Treaty of Lausanne. It highlights the role of the major powers-namely Britain, France, Italy, and Japan-alongside regional actors such as Greece, Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the newly established Republic of Turkey. The book also explores the Treaty's broader international resonance, including its implications for Asian countries such as India and China. Particular attention is devoted to the development of minority protections under international law, and the safeguarding of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a vital spiritual and institutional presence.

One hundred years on, the Treaty of Lausanne remains one of the principal peace instruments shaping political order, legal continuity, and interstate relations in the region. By combining legal analysis with diplomatic history, this volume offers a constructive reassessment of Lausanne's enduring contribution to international stability and the foundations of the modern international order.

This book provides a unique in-depth interpretive analysis of relational intimacy between mothers and adult sons, and its effect on their identities. Combining autoethnography, mothers' and men-children's first-hand accounts, and cultural narratives, the book explores psycho-social normative processes involved in shaping (hetero)gender identities in the contemporary context of the UK. The author engages with a broad range of scholarly literature and her direct knowledge and experience as a (hetero)gendered mother of sons, grandmother of grandsons, and practising psychodynamic psychotherapist. Voices of grand/mothers and men-children are foregrounded, offering fresh perspectives on the centrality of emotions, familial power hierarchies, and the inter- and transgenerational effects of mothers' and men-children's relational intimacy that perpetuate hegemonic masculinities and femininities. Their stories reveal an ambiguous, ambivalent mutual 'love' affected by the wider network of family relational practices, in which mundane coercive control, complicity, and compromises appear to be taken for granted in the enactment of both mothers' and men-children's (hetero)gender identities. Although the stories show the possibility of countering normative (hetero)gendered discourses, the book argues that resistance produces intra- and interpersonal conflicts, which affect and constrain agency. (Hetero)gender identities are shown to form within and against power hierarchies in everyday social and emotional practices. This book will interest researchers and students in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Family Studies, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, and Sociology.

Democratizing Participation presents a critical examination of voter participation in the Citywide and Community Education Council (CCEC) elections of New York City, revealing deep disparities and systemic shortcomings in democratic engagement. Despite the 2021 expansion of voting rights to all public-school parents, all three elections held since then were marked by alarmingly low turnout. The parents of only three percent of the students voted, with Black, Hispanic, Native American, and economically disadvantaged communities significantly underrepresented.

Drawing on interviews with a wide range of stakeholders, the study identifies key barriers to participation, such as awareness, access, relevance, affordability, and trust, and presents a comprehensive set of reform options. These range from administrative improvements to legislative changes, including bold considerations such as Board vs Mayoral control, participation grants, and sortition.

By connecting the findings from New York to broader questions of democratic resilience, Democratizing Participation underscores the urgent need for institutional reform and inclusive governance. It is a compelling call to action for anyone invested in strengthening democracy through equitable participation.

This book aims to provide a practical and accessible resource for school leaders and educators in Islamic schools, focusing learning and teaching rooted in the Islamic worldview. Drawing from theoretical insights and school and classroom-based case studies, it offers innovative approaches for renewing educational practice in Islamic schools across Australia and beyond. The book serves as an inspiration for educational renewal of Islamic Schools to become schools that advance distinct models of holistic faith-informed educational practice. Through contributions from experienced practitioners and seasoned academics, this book seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practical implementation in Islamic schooling.

The first comprehensive account of Byzantine monastic archaeology and spatial practices, Monastic Communities and Landscapes in Byzantium focuses on Thrace and eastern Macedonia to show the broader impact of monasteries on surrounding communities, one that was not only religious, but also economic and social. Georgios Makris focuses on the significance of monastic spaces and the landscapes they inhabit on the daily life of monastic communities, drawing on archaeological evidence-art and architectural element, pottery, lead seals, and inscriptions-and written sources.

Examining both modest and privileged monasteries between the tenth and fifteenth centuries, Makris takes an expansive and holistic approach to the archaeological study of Byzantine monasteries and considers the monastic compound as both a religious space and one used for social and economic activities. Monastic Communities and Landscapes in Byzantium reveals the rich and dynamic exchanges monasteries maintained with people beyond their walls in cities and the countryside, presenting a more complex view of the Byzantine monastery and the boundaries between sacred and profane spheres.

How an ancient myth about a sexually voracious, baby-slaying, loudmouthed demoness became the defining misogynistic archetype of Western civilization

For as long as human societies have been telling stories, the patriarchy has felt threatened by women. In this book, Eleanor Johnson provides an engaging cultural history of a figure she calls the "monstrous bitch," the notorious female who has haunted the patriarchal imagination for centuries, feared for her sexual promiscuity, her exercise of reproductive agency and control, and her outspoken way of contesting patriarchal power.

In a narrative brimming with insight, Johnson traces the origins of female monstrosity to the demoness Lamashtu of ancient Mesopotamia, showing how this infanticidal, hypersexual, loudmouthed monster appears in different guises throughout history. In classical Greece, she reemerges as the sorceress Medea, the child-devouring monster Lamia, and the vengeful Furies. In the medieval and early modern periods, she is an oversexed, baby-slaying, spellcasting witch; in the Romantic and Victorian eras, a vampiress; and in the modern age of psychoanalysis, a mental patient. After this longue duree history, Johnson shows how monstrous bitchery has been challenged and reinterpreted in contemporary cinematic popular culture, becoming an expression of heroism and resistance in films like Ginger Snaps, Jennifer's Body, and The Witch. She demonstrates how deeply embedded the roots of misogyny have become, and why it is more critical today than ever that we expose and address them.

An irreverent look at a pervasive trope that runs through four thousand years of Western culture, Monstrous Bitch reveals that while representations of the powerful woman have evolved over time, the fear and demonization of her remains the same.