Essay Recommends Research Articles

Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy and Faith-Based Social Service Organizations’ Boards

A growing body of literature provides insight on the importance of education for cross-cultural religious literacy. Yet for many faith-based social service organizations, one area where such education is underdeveloped is at the board table. This essay recommends key practices for the boards of faith-based social services organizations intending to grow in their understanding of cross-cultural religious literacy.

Reconciling Development and Decarbonization: An Examination of China's Policy Options for Curbing Emissions While Sustaining Supply Chains

China faces the challenge of balancing economic growth while meeting carbon emission reduction targets. This essay analyzes current Chinese government policies aimed at reducing emissions, including supply-side reforms, renewable energy subsidies, and awareness campaigns. It argues these policies have limitations, such as only temporary emissions reductions from supply cuts, high costs of subsidies, and lack of infrastructure to support consumer adoption of electric vehicles. To improve outcomes, the essay recommends implementing a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system, choosing the optimal policy based on demand elasticities. It also suggests subsidizing a transition from coal to electricity for heating in rural areas. In conclusion, modifying existing policies and implementing new market-based and technological solutions can help China achieve its twin goals of reducing emissions while maintaining economic growth. The essay provides a thoughtful analysis of the issues and policy trade-offs China faces in balancing environmental sustainability and development.

Religious Ethics and its Publics

ABSTRACTPast discussions of the public role of religious ethics scholarship have tended to focus on the propriety of religious argumentation in the public square. Rather than critiquing or vindicating such public engagement by explicitly religious thinkers, this essay recommends broader public engagement by scholars of comparatively oriented religious ethics, exploring why this goal is worthwhile, some possible objections, and various models of how it might be accomplished.

A Critical Analysis Comparing the Role of L1 in CLIL and Translanguaging

Mother tongue use in the classroom is an emerging practice combatting the old idea of achieving bilingualism through parallel monolingualism. As the discussion of the first language’s (L1) role within pedagogical contexts is still in its relative infancy, a critical analysis which compares how the pedagogical affordances of two recent L2 pedagogical approaches, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and Translanguaging, influence language teachers’ pedagogical choices will contribute to the current understanding of how educators clarify the role of L1. Besides its recency, both pedagogies are also chosen as the scope of this discussion because their aims are not solely to gain knowledge of the target language (TL). Funnelling the discussion with two empirical studies which represents the typical application of these pedagogies, this essay found that L1 has three types of facilitating roles, namely class and task management, scaffolding the target language production, and conceptual clarification. A clear distinction between these two pedagogies is established: while CLIL teachers always prioritise TL and treats L1 as a compensatory measure, Translanguaging teachers are authorised to mobilise a wider range of communicative resources rooted in the learners’ mother tongue. This essay recommends further exploration on the role of L1 across other pedagogies to better empower educators in actively and judiciously employing the inevitability of students’ L1 in the classroom to their advantage.

Too Close for Context

Abstract The activity of close reading lies at the heart of literary studies, a “signature pedagogy” that distinguishes English from other disciplines. Despite its centrality to the discipline, however, close reading has been curiously resistant to analysis. This lesson study aimed to determine where students encounter challenges in close reading. Contrary to dominant narratives in the discipline, the university students in this study were adept at formal analysis. They were challenged, on the other hand, by invitations to make intertextual and personal connections to the text. Analyzing features of successful close reading, the essay proposes that intertextual thinking and personal connection are important components. The essay recommends assessing student skills in the initial stages of teaching close reading and, when warranted, integrating instruction in intertextual thinking and making personal connections alongside formal analysis. It also suggests group discussion may help leverage these neglected components of close reading.

Digital hostility, subjectivity and ethics: Theorising the disruption of identity in instances of mass online abuse and hate speech

The experience of hostility, hate speech and adversarial behaviour in everyday online spaces has increased substantially in recent years, with known health and mental health outcomes for users. This paper argues that due to the ‘massified’ form of contemporary hostility experienced in the internet ‘pile on’, a new framework for understanding and remedying hostility is required. This paper draws on Judith Butler’s theories of identity to present an account of digital hostility as cultural and as having a negative effect on the identities and selfhood of users. It discusses the impact of the online pile-on, shaming and the ways in which hostility positions victims as ungrievable subjects. The essay recommends new ethical approaches grounded in the recognition of subjects as vulnerable, arguing that cultural ethics approaches are valuable not only as public pedagogies but for development of technological solutions and moderation interventions to help prevent hostility and hate speech.

Demographics and the Irony of Existential Profiling in Yorùbá Thought: Policy Considerations for Nigeria

This essay interrogates what can be described as Yorùbá population philosophy, within the context of Yorùbá existential thought, and the effects it has on Nigeria’s population explosion. The essay explores the seemingly contradictory proverbs that both vindicate and vilify the act of giving birth to many children. The essay further connects this traditional Yorùbá wisdom to contemporary procreative practices of Yorùbá Christians and Muslims, and their interpretations of scriptural injunction to be fruitful and multiply. I then argue that if Nigeria’s lackluster policy on population is taken into consideration, the implications of the Yorùbá, as well as other ethnic groups’, population philosophy will not only aggravate the Nigerian postcolonial predicament, but will eventually explode the population time bomb already ticking in Nigeria. The essay recommends that given the existential complexities attached to giving birth to a child, together with the demographic exigencies on Nigeria’s national predicament, marriage ought to be strictly regulated and limited to those with the capacity for sustainability.

The Role of the Family in the Restoration and Preservation of Yoruba Cultural Heritage

Yoruba people have a unique cultural heritage which engulfs every aspect of their lives; hence, guides them in their daily activities. It was borne in their heart, incise in their offspring, and pass from one generation to another. Unfortunately, this cultural heritage is almost lost today, as civilization has denigrated almost all these cherished cultural values in Yoruba communities. Undoubtedly, the family where the whole cultural decadence started from has great roles to play in restoring and preserving these cultural values. This is the thrust of this work. The essay is therefore approached from historical and ethical perspectives with phenomenological methodology to examine the cherished Yoruba cultural heritage. The findings of the work show that moral training through informal education; means of identity; communal responsibilities; ascribed roles; etc., are missing among the youths today. The paper adopts Mary Jo Hatch’s theory of cultural dynamics to examine the changes in Yoruba cultural heritage, the causes of decadence of this heritage; and the role of the family in enthroning Yoruba cultural heritage among the youths today. The essay recommends that family needs to rise for the restoration and 70 Awofeko Oyebanjo, and Shogunle preservation of these cultural heritages to combat the socio-cultural threat confronting the society.

From 9/11 to 1/6: Lessons for Congress from Twenty Years of War, Legislation, and Spiraling Partisanship

Two decades on from the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks, and in the wake of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 (1/6), it is appropriate to appraise Congress’s performance over the past twenty years in providing “for the common Defence. This invited symposium essay finds the record mixed. Going forward, Congress certainly can and urgently must summon its foresight, civic courage, and institutional resolve to do a better job providing for the common defense while also doing its constitutional duty to “insure domestic Tranquility.” Part I of this essay takes stock overall. Congress helped the nation to mitigate the foreign terrorist threat more effectively than most probably expected immediately after 9/11. That is the good news. But Congress has done worse regarding the domestic terrorist threat than almost anyone twenty years ago would have predicted. Additionally, Congress has provided the Executive Branch a predictable but dangerously expansive degree of latitude in national security. Part II of this essay sets out particular lessons learned and actionable steps toward national and institutional redemption. These recommendations center on stemming the spiraling partisanship that now—worse than any foreign actor—threatens the nation’s ability to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Legislators must lead opinion: they must show integrity and put constitutional conscience ahead of partisan and personal self-interest. Congress will better play its constitutional role by asserting more confidently and carefully its abundant national security constitutional authorities vis-a-vis the Executive Branch. This essay recommends that Congress vigorously examine Executive claims about intelligence and use of force; reclaim its powers over use of force by repealing and replacing existing statutory Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs); reigning in standing statutory grants of emergency authority to the President; legislate with future threats and risks in mind; and enact a framework statute on to prevent repeat of the kind of radical secret reinterpretations of the law that were part of the post-9/11 era's most searing scandals regarding surveillance and torture.

Considering the Efficacy of Digital Technology as a Means of Evangelization in Christian Religious Education

This essay attends to how digital technology is shaping Christian religious education and its efforts of evangelization. It proposes that, while the use of digital technology has promise, an unreflective integration of digital technology can hinder Christian religious education's efforts of evangelization. This concern requires attention, particularly as the hasty shift to virtual instruction due to COVID-19 has thrust educators and students into a new modality of teaching and learning. In response, this essay recommends that the integration of digital technology in Christian religious education can serve evangelization when it incorporates the reflective practice of prophetic dialogue.

Cancer Research UK’S obesity campaign in 2018 and 2019: effective health promotion or perpetuating the stigmatisation of obesity?

In 2018 and 2019 Cancer Research UK (CRUK) launched a controversial advertising campaign to inform the British public of obesity being a preventable cause of cancer. On each occasion the...

THE ASYMMETRIC EFFECTS OF FLUCTUATIONS IN OIL PRICES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE LIBYAN ECONOMY: A VAR APPROACH

This paper examines the presence of asymmetry in the response of the Libyan economy to fluctuations in oil prices, subsequent to discovery of oil in the country. Three Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models are illustrated and estimated along with a multivariate rolling VAR approach. All sectors are found to react asymmetrically to shocks in oil prices over the 1962-2012 period. The magnitude of the adverse effect of the negative oil shocks on the manufacturing and agriculture sector appears to outweigh the positive effect of the positive oil shocks. The services sector, on the other hand, is able to overcome the shocks of the oil prices, due to absence of external competition. In addition, the results of the Multivariate rolling VAR highlight the existence of structural changes in the relationship between sectors of the Libyan economy and oil prices. The essay recommends implementing fiscal policy reform to de-link the real sector from fluctuations in oil prices. It also advises promoting the development of the financial sector in order for it to contribute in the diversification of the economy.

Echoes of Meaning: Cheap Print, Ephemerality, and the Digital Archive

This essay reflects on the paradoxical intention of capturing and preserving texts that were printed to be ephemeral and disposable by design. It considers the implications of this contradiction in the way we use and engage with eighteenth-century cheap print via subscription databases that include full-text digitized editions of periodicals and newspapers. The conversion of individual texts addressed to discrete moments into big data, which is more often searched than read, has led to new ways of modelling eighteenth-century print culture and brought about a genuine paradigm shift in the way we think about and interact with historical materials. At the same time, this essay recommends some caution as we proceed. Cheap print that has miraculously survived this long, in one form or another, must not now suffer decontextualization or be lost amid new canons formed by search criteria and hidden algorithms.

Drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle: The Myanmar problem and ASEAN effectiveness

This essay explores the issue of drug trafficking and production in Myanmar to understand the extent of damage this problematic situation has on the South East Asian region and to discuss what steps are being taken by institutions to stem the proliferation of narcotics such as heroin and amphetamines. Myanmar’s turbulent political history and unique geographical position have been explained to garner knowledge on why drug trafficking and production are so closely associated with the nation. The policymaking efforts of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to combat drug trafficking and production in the region have so far been plagued by obstructions such as internal corruption, a lack of multilateral cooperation and insufficient resources. These barriers combine to create policy that it is aligned closer to empty rhetoric than actual physical implementation. The ASEAN and China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD) agreement has shown signs of a changing tide toward effective policymaking, due mainly to China stepping up to the plate of regional leadership. This essay recommends that in order to successfully fight drug trafficking and production, ASEAN need to establish more realistic and achievable goals with an emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Furthermore, compliance mechanisms should be put in place by ASEAN so that countries such as Myanmar, who often deviate from the status quo of drug policy, will be reprimanded for doing so in the future. Thus, creating an environment of multilateral cooperation, togetherness and consistency in relation to combatting the illegal drug trafficking and production trade

Moral agency without responsibility? Analysis of three ethical models of human-computer interaction in times of artificial intelligence (AI)

Philosophical and sociological approaches in technology have increasingly shifted toward describing AI (artificial intelligence) systems as ‘(moral) agents,’ while also attributing ‘agency’ to them. It is only in this way – so their principal argument goes – that the effects of technological components in a complex human-computer interaction can be understood sufficiently in phenomenological-descriptive and ethical-normative respects. By contrast, this article aims to demonstrate that an explanatory model only achieves a descriptively and normatively satisfactory result if the concepts of ‘(moral) agent’ and ‘(moral) agency’ are exclusively related to human agents. Initially, the division between symbolic and sub-symbolic AI, the black box character of (deep) machine learning, and the complex relationship network in the provision and application of machine learning are outlined. Next, the ontological and action-theoretical basic assumptions of an ‘agency’ attribution regarding both the current teleology-naturalism debate and the explanatory model of actor network theory are examined. On this basis, the technical-philosophical approaches of Luciano Floridi, Deborah G. Johnson, and Peter-Paul Verbeek will all be critically discussed. Despite their different approaches, they tend to fully integrate computational behavior into their concept of ‘(moral) agency.’ By contrast, this essay recommends distinguishing conceptually between the different entities, causalities, and relationships in a human-computer interaction, arguing that this is the only way to do justice to both human responsibility and the moral significance and causality of computational behavior.

Research and repair: expanding exceptions to patent infringement in response to a pandemic.

The doctrinal areas on which this essay focuses are two longstanding but narrow exemptions from patent infringement: one that permits scientific research, and one that permits the owner of a patented device to repair it. Though distinct at first glance, both of these doctrines act to permit activity that would otherwise be considered patent infringement. They are exceptions to the exclusivity that the law grants to patent holders – particularly the right to “make” a patented article and, to a lesser degree, to “use” it, and for this reason they are particularly salient when patents may impact critical lifesaving technologies. This essay recommends broadening the scope of the research exemption to cover a larger range of research activities conducted prior to the release of a commercial product; and recognizing the right of an owner of a patented product to make, or have made, replacement parts for that product, even if those parts may be covered by the claims of a patent or cross the line of “reconstruction” under current law. The implementation of these adjustments, conceived in light of the current coronavirus pandemic, could facilitate increased research, development and use of patented technologies and better prepare the U.S. to deal with the next great public health crisis.

Research And Repair: Expanding Exceptions To Patent Infringement In Response to a Pandemic

The doctrinal areas on which this essay focuses are two longstanding but narrow exemptions from patent infringement: one that permits scientific research, and one that permits the owner of a patented device to repair it. Though distinct at first glance, both of these doctrines act to permit activity that would otherwise be considered patent infringement. They are exceptions to the exclusivity that the law grants to patent holders – particularly the right to “make” a patented article and, to a lesser degree, to “use” it, and for this reason they are particularly salient when patents may impact critical lifesaving technologies. This essay recommends broadening the scope of the research exemption to cover a larger range of research activities conducted prior to the release of a commercial product; and recognizing the right of an owner of a patented product to make, or have made, replacement parts for that product, even if those parts may be covered by the claims of a patent or cross the line of “reconstruction” under current law. The implementation of these adjustments, conceived in light of the current coronavirus pandemic, could facilitate increased research, development and use of patented technologies and better prepare the U.S. to deal with the next great public health crisis.

Gattungsgeschichte und ihr Gattungsbegriff am Beispiel der Novellen

Gattungsgeschichte und ihr Gattungsbegriff am Beispiel der Novellen

Populism: A puzzle without (and for) world-systems analysis

This essay shows how world-systems analysis provides a more rigorous explanation for the recent rise of disparate populisms, countering negative stereotypes of mainstream accounts that obscure how formative populist leaders emerged from authentic progressive movements which challenged capitalists. Existing analyses have also failed to specify the varied economic projects of populists, their likely social bases and their relationships to world markets. The essay recommends relational comparisons of populists to unravel populism’s puzzles and advance world-systems analysis.

Eliminating harmful practices against women in Nigeria: an examination of the Violence against Women Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015

ABSTRACTDomestic violence against women is a crime that has continued unabated at a very high rate in Nigeria. There are very minimal records of reportage of such offences, particularly in developing parts of the world where such incidents may be subtly encouraged by the culture and societal norms prevalent in the society in question. The increasing scourge of domestic violence against women in Nigeria continues at an astronomical scale, posing serious physical, mental, psychological and reproductive health challenges to women and girls in Nigeria, despite a plethora of legal and regulatory mechanisms proscribing all forms of violence in Nigeria. This article critically examines the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015, and its prospects in combating the scourge of domestic violence against women in Nigeria. This essay recommends that necessary institutional measures be put in place for the strict enforcement of the provisions of this law.