Historical Connections Research Articles

Why we need to decolonize the biosciences curriculum

Bioscience has a history linked to exploitation, colonialism and marginalization. Biology has been dominated by white European perspectives, and pseudoscientific ‘biological’ arguments have been used to justify discrimination and oppression, particularly on the basis of disability and ethnicity. Addressing this legacy within bioscience education is challenging, particularly as many bioscientists are unaware of this history and its on-going influence on the discipline. In this article, we explore what decolonization of the curriculum means within the context of bioscience. To demystify terminology for those new to the subject, we first consider the differences between diversification and decolonization. We then explore the historical connections between colonial activity and bioscience, including scientific racism, bioprospecting and eugenics. Additionally, we highlight where white western biases are still present in bioscience, from the dominance of European samples in genomic studies to the lack of Black and Asian academics in UK bioscience. Multiple barriers to decolonization are also considered, from individual lack of knowledge to structural and societal issues. We call on bioscience educators to actively decolonize their curricula, ensuring the discipline is presented in its appropriate historical and cultural context and is inclusive for all.

STEAM practices connecting mathematics, arts, architecture, culture and history in a non-formal learning environment of a museum

This study adopts STEAM practices integrating architecture, arts, culture, and history into mathematics education in a museum learning environment. A workshop was conducted with five in-service mathematics teachers in an Egyptian museum, utilizing digital technologies such as GeoGebra, Augmented Reality, and 3D Printing to model, visualize and connect the museum collections to their teaching practices. Teachers’ modelled artefacts were qualitatively analysed for their artistic, cultural and historical connections. Findings indicate that participants followed the design expected outcomes of these STEAM practices by implementing a transdisciplinary approach towards mathematically modelling the museum objects while connecting to their mathematical, cultural, historical, and artistic relations. Participants’ reflections showed positive changes in their attitudes towards considering the museum learning environment for mathematics teaching during the implementation of these STEAM practices. Furthermore, such STEAM practices allowed participants to explore and connect disciplines through interacting with museum collections from artistic, cultural, historical, mathematical, and technological perspectives.

Discussing ymddiddan : The dialogue poems of the Black Book of Carmarthen

abstract: The term ymddiddan has been used by editors and scholars to refer to a body of medieval Welsh poetry usually containing or composed of dialogue. This paper begins by addressing the use and misuse of the term, assessing the meaning of ymddiddan and demonstrating how editors' application of the term to titles of poems that are frequently untitled in their manuscript context has shaped perceptions of a genre of medieval Welsh dialogue poetry. Arguments about the performance of ymddiddanau made in connection with evidence from prose tales such as Owein are also considered. The rest of the paper seeks to reach an understanding of the nature of medieval Welsh dialogue poetry by analyzing the poems themselves. For this, the Black Book of Carmarthen (NLW Peniarth MS 1) is used to provide parameters for investigation. Not only do the poems in this manuscript have a concrete historical connection, but the high proportion of them that have been designated as ymddiddan means that the Black Book scribe's idiosyncrasies and editorial decisions may have impacted our understanding of the corpus. With the form and features of dialogue poems clarified, the issue of a genre is re-evaluated. The results of this study form the basis of a sister article, in which the most famous Welsh dialogue poem, Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin , is tested against the definition of dialogue poetry established here.

Creating Atmosphere and Meaning through Singing on the Religious Pilgrimage from Sali to Piškera

The Catholic pilgrimage from Sali (island of Dugi Otok, Croatia) to the island of Piškera is embedded in the historical connections between these two locations, as Piškera was inhabited by fishermen from Sali for nearly three centuries. While sailing through the archipelago that no longer belongs to them, the pilgrims from Sali sing. During Mass, they perform a sung liturgy rooted in polyphonic folk singing; after Mass, the singing usually continues up until they depart. In this article, I argue that this community embodies its presence in the archipelago and creates a certain atmosphere through singing, while simultaneously inscribing meaning into the pilgrimage itself.

An energy recovery routing algorithm for opportunistic networks based on connection stability and node encounter type

Routing algorithms have been the focus of research on opportunistic networks to effectively deal with the connectivity problem of intermittent communication in opportunistic networks. Due to the frequent forwarding of messages by active nodes in the opportunistic networks leading to excessive energy consumption, opportunistic networks suffer from communication susceptibility to interruption and unstable network connectivity. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes an opportunistic network routing algorithm (ST-ProPhet) based on connection stability and energy recovery, which takes into account the node’s historical average connection duration, encounter probability, and the node’s energy consumption. Firstly, a node encounter probability prediction model fusing the average connection duration is developed. Secondly, the base station is introduced and the node wireless energy recovery strategy is designed. Finally, the ST-ProPhet algorithm proposes a message forwarding strategy based on node encounter types on the basis of the encounter probability prediction model and energy recovery model. Simulation experiments show that the ST-ProPhet algorithm has an overall reduction of 5066.27mAh over the ProPhet algorithm in terms of average message energy consumption.

Transatlantic LatinX studies, Iberian studies, and the Global South

More than a special issue, this endeavor serves as a sourcebook and provocation amplifying embryonic but interlinked sites of inquiry: LatinXness in Spain and its vital conversation with US LatinX studies as well as Iberian studies. LatinXs share historical and cultural connections to the Spanish and American empires. The contemporary period marks a significant moment on both sides of the Atlantic, as Spain now houses Europe’s largest LatinX population and the shifting ground of LatinXness exceeds the United States as well as a North-South axis of analysis. With an eye toward being wide-ranging, bringing forward fresh insights, and offering a crucial reference for an expanding area of interest—transatlantic LatinX studies—this undertaking provides historical contexts, defining moments, conceptual parameters, and critical approaches that appraise how Spain’s sociocultural and intellectual climate has fully entered a LatinX epoch. The exploration faces a cluster of questions: What do current characterizations of Spanishness invigorate when it admits a long ignored—and inseparable—LatinX foundation? What constitutes Spanish national currency when animated by LatinX bodies and imaginations? What is Spain—and what is Europe—to LatinXness and the Global South? What kind of new Spain—and new Europe—emerge from LatinXness and Global Southness? Collected here are original arguments and contributions—academic articles, think pieces, critical conversations, poetry, and creative nonfiction—orienting us on central thematic concerns that include: new directions and perspectives in transatlantic LatinX studies; the idea of Europe and Europeanness from Spain’s southernmost archipelago, the Canary Islands; LatinX nonhuman origins at the Royal Botanical Garden in the Spanish capital; the history, uses, and dissemination of the Panchito/Panchita racial slur; Madrid’s twenty-first century LatinX Spanish language, migration, and culture; present-day brown drag performance and practices; Afro-Spanish-Colombian poetry and politics; rurality, depopulation, and LatinX repopulation in Aguaviva, Spain; diasporic bodies and expressions of identity through movement; and movement in translation, X equivalencies across bodies, geographies, and languages. The volume, as a whole, is an entry point into LatinX studies and Iberian studies marshaling ideas and thinking tools that may be veering toward a new field of study.

Some Aspects of the Historical Connection between Traditional Hydrothermal Public Baths and the Modern Spa Industry

Some Aspects of the Historical Connection between Traditional Hydrothermal Public Baths and the Modern Spa Industry

'No Long Shadows'

‘No Long Shadows’ is a parafiction project developed between 2018 and 2020, made up of 4 photographic installations and an essay film. The project was built from an extensive body of research exploring historical connections between chemical science, military technology, and artistic production, with specific focus on the sordid history of the DuPont chemical company.

From temporal to concessive meanings: a semantic analysis of 'still'

We develop a new proposal about the historical connection between the durative and concessive readings of English still and Hebrew ʕadain, a connection that shows striking parallels in the two languages. Building on a corpus study of Hebrew (Rubinstein forthcoming), we argue that durative 'still' precedes the concessive 'still' and that the latter first arises in bridging contexts (and earlier than previously thought). In contrast to previous literature, our proposal places the temporal-to-concessive development squarely in the semantics. We argue that concessive 'still' emerges when an originally durative 'still' gets "infected" with a concessive meaning that is expressed explicitly in the rest of the sentence.

Beyond ‘Lulz' and ‘Keyboard warriors': exploring the relationship between trolling and radicalization

ABSTRACT Despite the similar psychological profiles of internet trolls and radicalized political actors, as well as the historical connections between trolling and the alt-right, little research has studied how trolling corresponds with the process of radicalization. Our study examines this relationship between trolling and radicalization by interrogating two pieces of folk wisdom about internet trolls, that they only care about ‘the lulz’ and that they are merely ‘keyboard warriors.’ Using the issue of racial inequality in the United States as a case study, we ask whether someone’s enjoyment of trolling is affected by their attitudes about racial inequality as well as whether those who enjoy trolling are more likely to engage in politically motivated activist and radical activities related to their views about race. Based on a nationally representative survey (N = 739), our study finds that those who enjoy the discursive act of trolling also intend to participate in other forms of political engagement, including both activist and radical activities. Overall, our findings reveal significant overlaps between trolling, activism, and radical activities when it comes to the topic of racial inequality, demonstrating the value of considering discursive acts like trolling within the broader context of studying the adoption of extremist ideologies and actions.

Analysing Opportunities and Obstacles in Ethio-Djibouti Relations: Post-Cold War Era Historical Analysis

This study explores the post-Cold War relationship between Ethiopia and Djibouti, with a focus on events after war era 1990. It investigates their historical connection, Djibouti’s separation from Ethiopia, and the impact of geopolitical dynamics and other factors on their relationship. Historical methods and qualitative research are used to gather and analyze data. The origins of their relationship date back to ancient times when Djibouti was part of Ethiopia before being occupied by the French. After French occupation and post-liberation period, several treaties were signed between the rulers of both countries, but changes in transportation and other challenges altered their relationship. After the Cold War, their relationship reached its peak due to Ethiopia’s dependence on Djibouti as a gateway to the sea, especially after the Ethio-Eritrean war. Military and security cooperation between the two countries was facilitated by global competition for military bases in Djibouti, border conflicts with Eritrea, and joint anti-terrorism initiatives. However, peace agreements between Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as growing relations with Somaliland, could create additional port options for Ethiopia which could potentially affect Djibouti’s income in the future. Differences in opinion on Somalia’s reunification and irredentism among Somalis may pose challenges for both countries. Additionally, global warming and desertification in Africa could affect water and electricity exports from Ethiopia to Djibouti. Despite these challenges, both countries have benefited from their relationship. In conclusion, this study provides insight into the historical development of Ethiopia and Djibouti’s relationship since the Cold War, highlighting the various factors that have influenced their dynamics. It is a valuable resource for understanding the complexities and potential future developments in their relationship.

Fermenting the future - on the benefits of a bioart collaboration.

In this article we explore the intersection of science and art through a collaboration between us scientists and the bioartists Anna Dimitriu and Alex May, focusing on the interface of yeast biotechnology and art. The collaboration, originally initiated in 2018, resulted in three major artworks: CULTURE, depicting the evolution of yeast and human societies; FERMENTING FUTURES, illustrating a synthetic autotrophic yeast and its link to lactic acid production; and WOOD SPIRIT-AMBER ACID, inspired by the VIVALDI project targeting CO2 reduction to methanol. We emphasize the reciprocal nature of the collaboration, detailing the scientific insights gained and the impact of artistic perspectives on us as researchers. We also highlight the historical connection between art and science, particularly in the Renaissance periods, and underscore the educational value of integrating art into science not only to support public engagement and science dissemination, but also to widen our own perceptions in our research.

Population structure and microscale morphological differentiation in a freshwater snail from the Chilean Altiplano

BackgroundThe diversity and population genetic structure of many species have been shaped by historical and contemporary climatic changes. For the species of the South American Altiplano, the historical climatic changes are mainly related to the wet events of great magnitude and regional influence that occurred during the Pleistocene climatic oscillations (PCOs). In contrast, contemporary climate changes are associated with events of lesser magnitude and local influence related to intensifications of the South American Summer Monsoon (SASM). Although multiple studies have analyzed the effect of PCOs on the genetic patterns of highland aquatic species, little is known about the impact of contemporary climate changes in recent evolutionary history. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the change in population structure and connectivity using nuclear and mitochondrial markers throughout the distribution range of Heleobia ascotanensis, a freshwater Cochliopidae endemic to the Ascotán Saltpan. In addition, using geometric morphometric analyses, we evaluated the concomitance of genetic divergence and morphological differentiation.ResultsThe mitochondrial sequence analysis results revealed the presence of highly divergent co-distributed and geographically nested haplotypes. This pattern reflects an extension in the distribution of groups that previously would have differentiated allopatrically. These changes in distribution would have covered the entire saltpan and would be associated with the large-scale wet events of the PCOs. On the other hand, the microsatellite results defined five spatially isolated populations, separated primarily by geographic barriers. Contemporary gene flow analyses suggest that post-PCO, climatic events that would have connected all populations did not occur. The morphometric analyses results indicate that there is significant morphological differentiation in the populations that are more isolated and that present the greatest genetic divergence.ConclusionsThe contemporary population structure and morphological variation of H. ascotanensis mainly reflect the post-PCO climatic influence. Although both markers exhibit high genetic structuring, the microsatellite and morphology results show the preponderant influence of fragmentation in recent evolutionary history. The contemporary genetic pattern shows that in species that have limited dispersal capabilities, genetic discontinuities can appear rapidly, erasing signs of historical connectivity.

Благодарственный лозунг в немецкой политической коммуникации 30–50-х годов XX века

The article deals with gratitude slogans in German political communication and aims to analyze the functions of such slogans, to identify their fundamental features related to their structure and the meanings they can convey, and to classify the slogans. Data for this study were collected from the minutes of the German governments’ meetings held between 1930 and 1959. Utterances expressing gratitude in political communication are motivational and inspirational in nature because they are aimed at changing the recipient’s emotional condition and are used to change the audience’s attitude toward the problem discussed. The article pays much attention to the classification of gratitude slogans into different types. Such slogans used in political communication in Germany can be divided into three groups: appeals, statements, and slogans comprising the qualities of both appeals and statements. Slogans of all the three types are declarative in nature. In terms of content, a gratitude slogan in political communication can convey: gratitude itself; prognostic gratitude; the need to express gratitude; an appeal to be grateful (can be expressed both implicitly and explicitly); gratitude-manipulation; prognostic ingratitude. Having analyzed the capability of the speech act of gratitude and its combinations with other speech acts, the author has discovered that they are most often combined with demands, appeals, and requests. Such compatibility allows these speech acts to mutually influence each other, which results in gratitude obtaining the features and functional properties of slogans. This study has shown that gratitude slogans have significant influential potential and come in many different forms; however, their historical connection with the language of the Nazi Party had a negative impact on the frequency of use and the expressiveness of such slogans.

Celtic mythology and Ukrainian legends: about the legend of Makitryna ravine

The question of the presence of the Celts in Ukraine is still debated, despite the discovery of typically Celtic objects and sites on Ukrainian territory. However, it is possible to add to the file the vestiges of Celtic mythology that can be noticed within the rich corpus of Ukrainian legends. Several attempts of this type have already been made in the past. However, we must add that of the legend of the Makitryna ravine, in southern Ukraine, in an area where, a priori, there have never been Celts. The legend in question was collected very late, and some of what it contains offers interesting parallels with Greek mythology. However, its very structure finds an exact parallel in an Irish mythological text. Since there is no known historical connection between Ireland and this part of Ukraine, the source of this story can only be a possible Gallic population, perhaps Galatians in the service of a king of Pontus.

DECOLONIZATION OF HISTORICAL MEMORY IN UKRAINE DURING THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR: MONUMENTS AND TOPONYMS

The article discusses the politics of memory in Ukraine during the war. The main component of Ukraine’s politics of memory during the war is Decolonization, as a continuation of Decommunization, which began in 2015, and Derussification, which began at the initiative of some local authorities and right-wing activists after the full-scale Russian invasion. Decolonization of memory involves the removal of symbols — names and memorial signs, which are considered markers of Russian imperial policy — from the public space. Ukraine wants to get away from the influence of Russian historiography, to shape its own national historical narrative and politics of memory, connected with the European tradition. The expected result of Decolonization is to destroy any cultural and historical connections between Ukraine and Russia so that no one considers Ukrainians and Russians to be either “one nation” or “brotherly nations.” I see decolonization as a reactive process to the Russian invasion and Putin’s de-Ukrainianization policy, which had no preconditions in Ukrainian society. The article analyses the destruction or appropriation of Soviet/Russian monuments and the renaming of toponyms. Monuments and toponyms associated with Russia and the USSR, with the beginning of a full-scale invasion, began to be perceived as markers of the invader, with which the empire “branded” its own territory. It is believed that by destroying them the victim can fight back by breaking historical ties with the aggressor. A key concept used in Ukrainian narratives in the context of Soviet/Russian monuments and toponyms was the cleansing of sacred land desecrated by enemy markings as well as the cancellation of Russian culture and language.

Explaining Bond Pricing Principles to Undergraduates Using Historical Connections and Two New Expositions

Explaining Bond Pricing Principles to Undergraduates Using Historical Connections and Two New Expositions

Побутові вірування українців ХХ століття на прикладі знахарів

Background. The relevance of the research of the article lies in the fact that everyday beliefs and practices of Ukrainian healers are an important component of Ukrainian culture and traditional medicine. Household beliefs reflect the cultural and historical aspects of a society and the methods by which people understood the world around them and interacted with it in their daily lives. Methods. The article uses general scientific methods - historical, cultural, sociological and systemic approach, which made it possible to carry out a comprehensive analysis and assessment of the historical context of the given topic. The combination of these research methods made it possible to obtain a comprehensive understanding of everyday beliefs of Ukrainian healers and their role in modern society. The results of the study of everyday beliefs of Ukrainian healers showed that this practice has deep roots in Ukrainian culture and traditions. The study also showed that the everyday beliefs of Ukrainian healers of the 20th century are often combined with Christian traditions, which indicates the syncretic nature of this practice. Healers use prayers, icons, and other Christian symbols along with their own rituals and ceremonies. Conclusions. The household beliefs of Ukrainian healers reflect deep cultural and historical connections, and also reflect people's need for spiritual and energetic healing. These beliefs play an important role in the life of modern Ukrainian society, helping people to find support and treatment in traditional methods. Research can make a significant contribution to the maintenance and preservation of traditional healing methods that are passed down from generation to generation. Studying this topic will allow a better understanding of the methods of treatment and health support used in Ukrainian society.

Monumental Stories Found in We Deserve Monuments

The author reviews the young adult novel We Deserve Monuments (2022) by Jas Hammonds, providing a brief summary, historical and contemporary connections, and instructional strategies.

Compared to what?: Setting American political development in comparative context

AbstractThe recent crisis of democracy in the United States and around the world has highlighted the value of both historical and comparative analysis and brought the subfields of American political development and comparative politics into frequent conversation with each other. In fact, these subfields emerged from common origins and draw on similar conceptual and methodological tools. This essay identifies the historical and intellectual connections between the two fields and suggests the emerging possibilities of bringing the cross-national study of political development onto a common platform. It then draws out some themes that emerge from this pathway and considers how these themes might point the way toward a more systematic enterprise that can help illuminate some of the most pressing challenges of a turbulent political era.