ABSTRACT Using authentic menu data, this study examines coffee menu naming in Singapore’s kopitiams and independent cafés as a site of multilingual meaning-making and identity construction. Grounded in a socio-onomastic framework and supported by a descriptive analysis of naming patterns, the study compares their structural types, linguistic sources and the distribution of their functions. Kopitiam coffee naming is defined by fixed patterns and multilingual blending, reflecting routinised community consensus, whereas independent cafés adopt open, English-dominant combinations that index creativity, branding and global intelligibility. Despite their differences, both systems share mechanisms of pattern-based organisation and shared lexical repertoires that negotiate meaning between locality and globalisation. Viewed within Singapore’s two waves of globalisation, coffee naming in kopitiams extends the multilingual legacy of the colonial era, while the independent café system reflects consumer culture and linguistic commodification. Overall, coffee naming emerges as a social-semiotic practice through which language functions both as a communicative resource and as a marker of cultural identity, capturing Singapore’s ongoing balance between the local and the global.

A Cultural History of Mathematics in the Early Modern Age

By retelling the story of porcelain, a material recently seized for its racialized and gendered cultural valences, this essay proposes a critical reorientation of Asian Americanist new materialisms around the concept of technique. Disturbing the racial and gendered ontological claims made on porcelain’s behalf through recourse to the history of its technical unfolding, this essay makes the case for studies in Asian Americanist new materialisms to pivot from the ontological realism of race to the technical evolution of race’s materiality, which reveals race, like porcelain, to “be” nothing except the retroactive form of historical scientific activities that render concepts contingent and unenclosed. Drawing on the ceaseless history of porcelain’s reinvention across early and industrial modernity, this essay remakes the telos of Asian Americanist critique: Activating the sociogenetic value of technical invention, it rereads Asian Americanist new materialisms as a theory of mediation attendant to the joint construction and deconstruction of race at the limit of the human’s constitutive negativity.

ABSTRACT This article explores the gender outcomes of political transitions by investigating gender politics in Hong Kong from the colonial era to the post-2020 period. By drawing on official documents, media reports, and empirical studies, this article illuminates the mutually constitutive nature of political processes and gender politics. It analyzes the complementary, but conflicting, relationship between feminist movements and pro-democracy activism during the pre – and post-handover eras and exemplifies the recent emergence of a patriarchal authoritarian gender regime, alongside the political transition, after 2020. In addition, it proposes the concept of the ‘politics of existence’ to capture how progressive women’s groups respond to the shifting political climate. This article argues that gender politics are inseparable from political processes and state-society struggles, as they can facilitate both democratic and authoritarian regime-building, while these processes also shape the trajectories of feminist activism, which faces the risks and opportunities arising within these sociopolitical (re)configurations.

Distribution of Port-Related Facilities in the Early Modern Tsuchizaki Port

Abstract This paper reconstructs key perceptions and qualities attributed to Byzantine icons in early modern Italy, with particular attention to Venice. It examines the persistent distinction between icons alla greca and local paintings, where the former were often deemed less aesthetically pleasing yet more spiritually powerful, and thus better suited for devotional use. Drawing on textual and archival evidence from the 14th to the 17th centuries, it explores how, despite negative assessments in humanist circles, Byzantine icons were valued for their formal characteristics, perceived antiquity, and greater ‘authenticity’. Informed by examples from churches, domestic interiors, and individual commissions, the paper situates the enduring presence of these artifacts within the geopolitical transformations of the Mediterranean and ongoing debates about the role of sacred images in early modern spirituality.

Ability and Difference in Early Modern China. By David Robinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025. 298 pp. $115 (cloth) $38 (paper) $38 (ebook)

ABSTRACT This paper examines the theology of John Boys, clergyman and Jacobean English postiller, concerning Christ’s descent into hell. The Reformation debate on the descensus partially coincided with the development of the doctrine of the two states, and it is often assumed that Lutheran theologians nearly unanimously assigned a victorious descent into hell to the period of Christ’s exaltation against the Reformed, who followed Calvin in allocating the descensus to his humiliation. However, examining John Boys’s theology on the descent within the context of the wider development of the doctrine of Christ’s descent into hell, I show that Boys provides an example of a Reformed theologian who places Christ’s descent into hell within the state of exaltation. This bolsters the view of some historians who have argued that there were surprising intra-confessional differences in positions on the descensus.

This review article explores the applicability of the Social Identity Approach (SIA) in historical research, focusing on research and sources from the Early Modern era, particularly the context of the Lutheran Reformation. The study argues that while identity is often treated as self-evident in religious historical research, SIA offers conceptual tools that can enrich historical interpretation. Using examples from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writers’ texts, the article demonstrates how boundaries of “true Christianity” were negotiated and maintained, and how the conceptualizations of SIA could be used in these discussions. It also highlights methodological challenges: historians lack direct access to human cognitive processes and must rely on mediated, fragmentary sources, which necessitates contextualization and source criticism to avoid anachronism. SIA should therefore be employed as a heuristic framework rather than a predictive model. When applied critically, it enables nuanced analysis of identity construction and group dynamics, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue between history and social psychology.

The Tjong A Fie Mansion Museum is one of the most significant Chinese cultural heritage sites in Medan, representing historical narratives, cultural values, and the long-standing process of acculturation since the colonial era. This study aims to analyze the role of the Tjong A Fie Museum in preserving Chinese cultural heritage and to examine how the museum functions as a medium for education, tourism, and cultural identity reinforcement. The research employs a literature review method by examining books, scholarly articles, policy documents, and institutional publications relevant to cultural heritage preservation and Chinese-Indonesian history. The collected data were analyzed using a descriptive qualitative approach. The findings reveal that the museum holds strong historical and architectural value through its combination of Chinese, European, and Malay design elements, as well as its authentic collections that illustrate the socio-economic life of the Chinese community in early 20th-century Medan. The museum plays crucial roles in conservation, education, and socio-cultural representation through the preservation of artifacts, educational programs, and cultural activities that support Medan’s multicultural identity. Additionally, the museum serves as a key attraction in the development of heritage tourism, contributing to sustainable cultural tourism and historical awareness. However, several challenges persist, including limited conservation funding, low engagement among younger generations, and modernization pressures in the Kesawan area. This study emphasizes the need for cross-sector collaboration, digital preservation, area revitalization, and strengthened educational initiatives to ensure the sustainability of the museum as a center for Chinese cultural heritage. Thus, the Tjong A Fie Museum serves not only as a repository of historical objects but also as a symbol of acculturation, tolerance, and the historical identity of the city of Medan.

This study covers the social, infrastructural and political history of Namahadi Pass, which is situated in the northern Drakensberg close to the QwaQwa area. As such, it covers a number of historical eras, including the precolonial, colonial, Apartheid, post-colonial, and post-Apartheid eras. The pass straddles the border between two independent states, Lesotho and South Africa, although the former QwaQwa homeland status of the South African territory cannot be discounted. The literature review covers the social, infrastructural and political influences that affected the pass. Methodology comprised a historiographical narrative of the social and political history of the pass, which was then analysed for themes. Secondary sources such as pertinent texts as well as primary sources such as photographs, maps and Google Earth were all utilised for the narrative. From the colonial era heyday, which coincided with the operation of the private Rydal Mount hostelry, the pass now sees dramatically lower mountain tourist usage. This was also significantly influenced by the shift in mountain tourist infrastructure to the chain ladders near the Sentinel. The construction of the Fika Patso dam in 1986 had a massive effect on the pass, especially in terms of route and usage. Tensions, sometimes violent, between Lesotho and South Africa have, in addition, affected the pass, chiefly in terms of mountain tourism but also in the movement of borderland people. It is the infrastructural change (including the tourist infrastructure shift towards the Sentinel and the Fika Patso dam) that has transformed the pass into a relative backwater, although the establishment of a research station at the summit holds some promise in breathing new life into the pass.

Abstract This article overturns the assumption that early modern ballads include too much godly, moralizing content to be considered part of news culture. It uses a wide range of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English ballads in print and manuscript to demonstrate that one of the news ballad’s most significant features was the inclusion of providence – the ongoing supernatural workings of God in the material world. Placing these songs in the context of other cheap print genres and drawing on research into the role of religion in everyday life, the article shows that rather than undermining the ballad’s role in news culture, providence defined it. Moreover, the early modern distinction between God’s overall plan and specific examples of his intervention in earthly affairs helps to subdivide the genre into those where providence forms an editorial line and those where providence itself provides the story. This second type has traditionally been seen as godly rather than ‘newsy’. Understanding providence shows that those ballads which have been dismissed as more moralistic than topical in fact shared the most important news people could hear.

: <i>Sex and Style: Literary Criticism and Gender in Early Modern England</i>

This article presents a comparative analysis of the spatial development and naming practices of two leading cities in East-Central Europe during the early modern period—Lviv and Vilnius. Both cities were founded in the 13th–14th centuries andshare a number of structural and historical features. Their origins are tied to princely legends; early settlements formed around castles on elevated terrain; and the development of urban centers occurred following the arrival of German settlers who introduced legal systems based on Magdeburg and Chełmno law. At the same time, the spatial planning and administrative organization of these cities diverged significantly, revealing broader patterns in the evolution of medieval and early modern cities in the region.The authors draw on archaeological findings, legal and fiscal sources, and historical maps to trace how these cities developed from a “castle–suburb” model into more complex structures that included jurydykas, suburbs, and urban villages. Special attention is given to naming practices—particularly of streets and city gates—as markers of memory, spatial organization, and legal authority. Referring to Ferdinand Opll’s typology of city gate names, the article reveals symbolic differences between the two urban landscapes: in Vilnius, gate names typically pointed to nearby settlements, while in Lviv, they referred to distant cities.The article also explores how various ethnic and religious communities—Germans, Jews, Armenians, Ruthenians, Tatars, and others—shaped both the structure of the city and its naming conventions. Through examples such as Jewish Street (platea Judeorum), Ruthenian Street (platea ruthenicali), and Dominican Street (ulica ku Dominicanom/Dominikonų gatvė), the authors show how toponyms reflected community presence.The spatial vocabulary of both cities is analyzed in the broader context of the “spatial turn” in urban history, particularly through the lens of Edward Soja’s ideas. In conclusion, the article shows that comparative urban studies help to understandbetter how city space was interpreted and organized. At the same time, it opens possibilities for interdisciplinary dialogue between researchers of Lviv and Vilnius. Such dialogue can support mutual borrowing of approaches and methods: for example, in Lviv, studies on historical topography and urban names are more developed, while Lviv-based researchers could also learn from the archaeological practices used in Vilnius for studying the urban space.

Transcultural Things and the Spectre of Orientalism in Early Modern Poland-Lithuania

Creative projects and historical making are not mutually exclusive of academic goals. In keeping with current research on creativity and the “unessay,” this article argues that student investigations of the past can involve rigorous assessments beyond term papers and exams. Creative projects and historical making involve research, analysis, bibliographic, and reflection skills, that are key to more traditional assessment processes, and often have an active and open character. The three articles that follow this introduction show how “unessays,” commonplace books, and crafting open new portals to learning about the early modern world, and especially about gender, class, and education.

This article suggests that the standard end-of-year term paper structures our relationship to our students and pedagogy and then argues that all three are in need of revision. The term paper assumes an apprentice model of education, where students are asked to produce a beginner’s version of the kind of research projects professional scholars produce. The fact that very few of our students will finish this apprenticeship and become actual scholars has not stopped us from continuing to follow this model. In its place, I suggest using an “unessay,” an open-ended assignment, which allows students to take existing scholarships and convey that knowledge through whatever medium they choose (podcast, video, art installation, etc.). This assignment allows students to practice skills that may be useful in their personal and professional lives, all while offering them the chance to explore aspects of early modern culture and texts that interest them.

This essay traces the inky marks left by sixteenth- and seventeen-century women readers in a corpus of 215 vernacular English Bibles and psalm books in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It asks what information about early modern women as Bible readers can been gleaned from this material evidence and what kind of cultural capital those books accrued by being owned by women. It argues for the importance of female ownership to early modern readers and suggests that the recent interest in female book ownership is, in one sense, a return to early modern mores in which maternal ownership of Bibles made them peculiarly prized.

Nutritional disorders in early childhood remain a major global health concern, affecting physical growth, neurodevelopment, immune function, and long-term metabolic outcomes. Children under five years of age are particularly vulnerable due to rapid growth demands and increased susceptibility to environmental, infectious, and socio-economic factors. Both undernutrition (including wasting, stunting, and micronutrient deficiencies) and overnutrition (overweight and obesity) contribute significantly to pediatric morbidity worldwide. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical patterns of nutritional disorders in children aged 6 months to 3 years and to evaluate contemporary correction strategies based on evidence-based nutritional and medical interventions. The study integrates current epidemiological data, clinical observations, and modern therapeutic recommendations, including individualized dietary planning, micronutrient supplementation, therapeutic feeding programs, probiotic support, and parental counseling. Recent evidence demonstrates that early identification through anthropometric screening and laboratory assessment significantly improves treatment outcomes. Modern correction strategies emphasize personalized nutrition plans tailored to age, metabolic needs, and comorbid conditions. Multidisciplinary management involving pediatricians, nutritionists, and caregivers has been shown to enhance recovery rates and prevent long-term developmental consequences. Early intervention is critical in minimizing irreversible growth impairment and cognitive deficits. Contemporary approaches combining nutritional therapy, education, and regular follow-up represent the most effective strategy in managing nutritional disorders in early childhood.

This paper examines the contemporary situation surrounding the founding of the Zainichi poetry magazine “BUL SSI”(1957), and considers how it was published by changing the language of expression from Korean in the first and second issues into the Japanese version in the third issue. Zainichi magazines have recorded the fierce struggle of Zainichi Korean’s life in Japan. The reason why this paper paid particular attention to “BUL SSI” is that the magazine shows the crack between Korean and Japanese surrounding the language of literary expression in the late 1950s. “BUL SSI” contains the process of the struggles of Zainichi Koreans to renew the thoughts of Zainichi and correct the direction of Zainichi literature. This purpose and direction of “BUL SSI” shows the meaning of the Zainichi literary magazine that has recorded the era of colonialism and the Cold War in Japan