Arts and Humanities
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Dr Gabriel Popescu | Reconstructing the History of a Prehistoric Society in the Eastern Balkans
When studying the earliest human societies, researchers use a combination of archaeological records and radiocarbon dating to create comprehensive models of population patterns. By applying advanced mathematical techniques, they can now estimate the changing sizes and distributions of ancient human populations and make more informed inferences about how societies were structured. In many regions, these models have allowed researchers to better understand the social and environmental changes that shaped the prehistoric world.
Dr Olga Golubeva | How to Use Accounting to Facilitate Sustainable Development
Since the 1980s, the three sustainability directions, including social, environmental, and economic pillars, have guided theoretical developments and policy-making efforts worldwide. Dr Olga Golubeva at Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University, explored the potential of accounting to contribute to the three pillars framework. Olga capitalises on the ability of the accounting discipline to reflect and record organisational and social surroundings.
Professor David Pion-Berlin | Was the January 6th Storming of the US Capitol a Self-coup?
The storming of the US Capitol on January 6th 2021 was a shocking event for many. Citizens pushed past Capitol police, causing property damage and threatening congresspeople and the Vice President. Five people died in the attack. Participants included armed members of right-wing militias, terrorist groups, neo-Nazi organizations, and conspiratorial groups such as Q-Anon. Nothing similar had been seen since the British burned the Capitol building to the ground during the War of 1812. Immediately afterwards, scholars and the media attempted to understand what had happened. Commentators had a range of viewpoints, describing the event as an insurrection, a mob invasion, sedition, a legitimate protest, a rebellion, and a coup.
Professor Brian Hudson | A New Research Framework to Improve Teaching and Knowledge Transformation
Curriculum theory, which aims to analyse and shape the future of education, has not yet adequately addressed the significant societal changes of the late 20th century. Instead, scholars of the field have largely been concerned with implementing education policy, training teachers, and developing educational content.
Could the COVID-19 Pandemic Lead to Equality for Essential Workers?
When governments implemented lockdowns and social distancing measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, many workers were deemed ‘essential’ and were required to continue working as normal. These workers included grocery store staff, healthcare workers, farm laborers and many others.
Professors Wright, Boun & Chan | How Multilingual Education Helped Cambodia Boost Indigenous Student Enrolment
Cambodia has had a tragic past, including a genocide and over a decade of civil war. However, since the mid-1990s, there has been relative peace, stability, and rapid development. Cambodia has made impressive progress rebuilding its education system and committing to universal educational access. By 2008, enrolment rates across Cambodia had risen to 92%. However, indigenous ethnic minority children in the remote villages of the northeastern provinces proved hardest to reach, in large part due to language barriers.
Bethany Johnson | Exploring Community Responses to the Plague in the 16th Century
By the second half of the 16th Century, the British Isles had experienced more than two centuries of periodic plague outbreaks. As a result, town councils were well equipped to rapidly implement a range of policies to protect public health. In response to the threat of plague, officials quickly enacted controls on the importation of goods and limits on the number of people traveling between municipalities. Locals or out-of-town workers were hired to care for the ill, bury the dead, clean the streets, and fumigate houses.
Juan Ramirez | Achieving Faster Computation Through Philosophical Mathematics
‘What is a number?’ is a question with various answers depending on who you ask. This question is also vital to mathematical logic, and as a consequence, to all modern computation. In the early 1900s, the field of mathematics experienced multiple crises, as various paradoxes arose that proved all mathematical knowledge to be unfounded. The solution to these crises was the birth of Set Theory.
Dr Nesibe Kantar – Professor Terrell Ward Bynum | Which Ethical Values Should Be Instilled into Artificial Intelligence?
Technological and scientific advancements have always come with ethical and social consequences. This remains true today, as artificial intelligence is rapidly and radically changing the way we think about the world. Seven decades ago, while creating the field of cybernetics, scientist-philosopher Norbert Wiener first asked: Which ethical values and principles should be instilled into machines that learn and make decisions?
Professor Zhuoyi Wang | What Can the Compromised Progress of the Mulan Remake Tell Us About Cross-cultural Filmmaking?
In 1998, Disney released Mulan, an animated take on a Chinese legend. The film tells the story of Mulan, a girl who impersonates a man to join the army. She shows bravery as she fights to save her kingdom. At the time, this was a breakthrough for Disney due to its positive portrayal of Chinese characters and strong women. Nevertheless, the film included many gender stereotypes and instances of cultural appropriation. In 2020, a live action remake of Mulan was released. Directed by feminist filmmaker Niki Caro, it aimed to be gender progressive and culturally appropriate. However, critics argued that it misrepresented Chinese culture, and perpetuated ethnic stereotypes. Given that the film tried to avoid these pitfalls, how did this happen?
Austina Lee | Gareth Dylan Smith – The Role of Love and Community in American Schools
Capitalism and neoliberalism influence how children are schooled in the USA. American schools have standardised performance measures that teachers and students are expected to meet, which tend to prioritise: conformity, good grades and workforce readiness. They do not support students to develop identities, form good relationships, collaborate, or innovate. The result is an education system that undervalues care and community, which is at odds with the vision of raising compassionate young people. In a recent paper, teachers Austina Lee and Gareth Dylan Smith explore how this can be challenged through ‘punk’ pedagogy. They use the case study of a high-school choir to demonstrate how their ideas can be put into practice.
Professor Kieran Kilcawley | Using Flavour Chemistry to Identify Biomarkers Behind the Sensory Perception of Irish Grass-fed Beef and Lamb
For many consumers, the origin of the food they buy is of great importance. For instance, Irish beef and lamb is often seen as superior quality meat, as the animals are typically reared outdoors on a diet of predominately fresh grass. However, are Irish beef and lamb actually any different to meats produced elsewhere, from animals reared indoors in less sustainable production systems? Professor Kieran Kilcawley and his team at the Teagasc Agriculture and Food Development Authority in Ireland, in conjunction with University College Dublin, are investigating the ‘flavour chemistry’ of beef and lamb. Their aim is to determine whether there are fundamental differences in the chemical properties of meat due to the animal’s diet and origin.
Dr Gabriel Popescu | Reconstructing the History of a Prehistoric Society in the Eastern Balkans
When studying the earliest human societies, researchers use a combination of archaeological records and radiocarbon dating to create comprehensive models of population patterns. By applying advanced mathematical techniques, they can now estimate the changing sizes and distributions of ancient human populations and make more informed inferences about how societies were structured. In many regions, these models have allowed researchers to better understand the social and environmental changes that shaped the prehistoric world.
Dr Olga Golubeva | How to Use Accounting to Facilitate Sustainable Development
Since the 1980s, the three sustainability directions, including social, environmental, and economic pillars, have guided theoretical developments and policy-making efforts worldwide. Dr Olga Golubeva at Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University, explored the potential of accounting to contribute to the three pillars framework. Olga capitalises on the ability of the accounting discipline to reflect and record organisational and social surroundings.
Professor David Pion-Berlin | Was the January 6th Storming of the US Capitol a Self-coup?
The storming of the US Capitol on January 6th 2021 was a shocking event for many. Citizens pushed past Capitol police, causing property damage and threatening congresspeople and the Vice President. Five people died in the attack. Participants included armed members of right-wing militias, terrorist groups, neo-Nazi organizations, and conspiratorial groups such as Q-Anon. Nothing similar had been seen since the British burned the Capitol building to the ground during the War of 1812. Immediately afterwards, scholars and the media attempted to understand what had happened. Commentators had a range of viewpoints, describing the event as an insurrection, a mob invasion, sedition, a legitimate protest, a rebellion, and a coup.
Professor Brian Hudson | A New Research Framework to Improve Teaching and Knowledge Transformation
Curriculum theory, which aims to analyse and shape the future of education, has not yet adequately addressed the significant societal changes of the late 20th century. Instead, scholars of the field have largely been concerned with implementing education policy, training teachers, and developing educational content.
Could the COVID-19 Pandemic Lead to Equality for Essential Workers?
When governments implemented lockdowns and social distancing measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, many workers were deemed ‘essential’ and were required to continue working as normal. These workers included grocery store staff, healthcare workers, farm laborers and many others.
Professors Wright, Boun & Chan | How Multilingual Education Helped Cambodia Boost Indigenous Student Enrolment
Cambodia has had a tragic past, including a genocide and over a decade of civil war. However, since the mid-1990s, there has been relative peace, stability, and rapid development. Cambodia has made impressive progress rebuilding its education system and committing to universal educational access. By 2008, enrolment rates across Cambodia had risen to 92%. However, indigenous ethnic minority children in the remote villages of the northeastern provinces proved hardest to reach, in large part due to language barriers.
Bethany Johnson | Exploring Community Responses to the Plague in the 16th Century
By the second half of the 16th Century, the British Isles had experienced more than two centuries of periodic plague outbreaks. As a result, town councils were well equipped to rapidly implement a range of policies to protect public health. In response to the threat of plague, officials quickly enacted controls on the importation of goods and limits on the number of people traveling between municipalities. Locals or out-of-town workers were hired to care for the ill, bury the dead, clean the streets, and fumigate houses.
Juan Ramirez | Achieving Faster Computation Through Philosophical Mathematics
‘What is a number?’ is a question with various answers depending on who you ask. This question is also vital to mathematical logic, and as a consequence, to all modern computation. In the early 1900s, the field of mathematics experienced multiple crises, as various paradoxes arose that proved all mathematical knowledge to be unfounded. The solution to these crises was the birth of Set Theory.
Dr Nesibe Kantar – Professor Terrell Ward Bynum | Which Ethical Values Should Be Instilled into Artificial Intelligence?
Technological and scientific advancements have always come with ethical and social consequences. This remains true today, as artificial intelligence is rapidly and radically changing the way we think about the world. Seven decades ago, while creating the field of cybernetics, scientist-philosopher Norbert Wiener first asked: Which ethical values and principles should be instilled into machines that learn and make decisions?
Professor Zhuoyi Wang | What Can the Compromised Progress of the Mulan Remake Tell Us About Cross-cultural Filmmaking?
In 1998, Disney released Mulan, an animated take on a Chinese legend. The film tells the story of Mulan, a girl who impersonates a man to join the army. She shows bravery as she fights to save her kingdom. At the time, this was a breakthrough for Disney due to its positive portrayal of Chinese characters and strong women. Nevertheless, the film included many gender stereotypes and instances of cultural appropriation. In 2020, a live action remake of Mulan was released. Directed by feminist filmmaker Niki Caro, it aimed to be gender progressive and culturally appropriate. However, critics argued that it misrepresented Chinese culture, and perpetuated ethnic stereotypes. Given that the film tried to avoid these pitfalls, how did this happen?
Austina Lee | Gareth Dylan Smith – The Role of Love and Community in American Schools
Capitalism and neoliberalism influence how children are schooled in the USA. American schools have standardised performance measures that teachers and students are expected to meet, which tend to prioritise: conformity, good grades and workforce readiness. They do not support students to develop identities, form good relationships, collaborate, or innovate. The result is an education system that undervalues care and community, which is at odds with the vision of raising compassionate young people. In a recent paper, teachers Austina Lee and Gareth Dylan Smith explore how this can be challenged through ‘punk’ pedagogy. They use the case study of a high-school choir to demonstrate how their ideas can be put into practice.
Professor Kieran Kilcawley | Using Flavour Chemistry to Identify Biomarkers Behind the Sensory Perception of Irish Grass-fed Beef and Lamb
For many consumers, the origin of the food they buy is of great importance. For instance, Irish beef and lamb is often seen as superior quality meat, as the animals are typically reared outdoors on a diet of predominately fresh grass. However, are Irish beef and lamb actually any different to meats produced elsewhere, from animals reared indoors in less sustainable production systems? Professor Kieran Kilcawley and his team at the Teagasc Agriculture and Food Development Authority in Ireland, in conjunction with University College Dublin, are investigating the ‘flavour chemistry’ of beef and lamb. Their aim is to determine whether there are fundamental differences in the chemical properties of meat due to the animal’s diet and origin.
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