Community Structures and Processes on Lives of Refugee Children

Edited by Sofia Leitao, Rinova Limited and Yvonne M. Vissing, Salem State University

Communities around the world face challenges in how to assist the influx of refugees and immigrants, who arrive with only the clothes on their backs. They may have health problems and have experienced violence and trauma before they arrived in their new communities. They require healthcare, housing, education, jobs, financial & material support, and childcare, to name a few. Some arrive with families, but often, children and youth arrive unaccompanied and are in need of special care. Even well-intentioned and resource-rich communities may find themselves taxed as they struggle to help everyone in need. This book is framed by a human rights approach and highlights how social structures and institutional processes impact the lives of refugee and asylum-seeking children. Social institutions around the world tend to experience a similar type of challenge in serving this population. These challenges are examined in this book as recommendations for actions provided. The authored contributions present different perspectives on processes, interactions, policies, practices, and laws embedded in a variety of institutions and community social interactions. It is a reference for researchers, practitioners, and students in its presentation of academic and practitioner approaches to challenges faced by refugee children in different geographic and social contexts. Topics in this book include work on the character of transnational migrant families and communities, uses of new information and communication technologies, international frameworks of humanitarian assistance, social inclusion best practices in the integration of migrant children and unaccompanied minors, and models to provide multidisciplinary services on prevention, integration and rehabilitation integration strategies. Concepts of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and HOPEs (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) are explored, along with lifelong learning as a catalyst for the sustained promotion of safe communities in the context of migration; and individual refugee needs and their family’s future wellbeing towards service to refugees that work for the individual.

Modal Translation: The Relevance of Worlds

Paul Hanmer, Nottingham University

This book concerns the philosophical analysis of modal sentences. David Lewis’ Modal Translation Scheme "translates" sentences of quantified modal logic into sentences of predicate logic supplemented by counterpart theory. A number of theoretical advantages are thereby secured. One component of the translation scheme makes reference to non-actual but possible worlds i.e. the primitive predicate “at a world(s), w”. The author addresses the problem of advanced modal sentences which threaten this predicate and so the ability of genuine realism to secure the aforementioned theoretical benefits. The problem of advanced modal sentences is a relatively new field of philosophical research. This ground-breaking book will primarily be of interest to researchers in modality, particularly those working in this field.

Co-teaching and co-research in contexts of inequality

Using networked learning to connect Africa and the world

Edited by Phindile Zifikile Shangase, University of the Free State, South Africa et al.

There has been a recent surge of interest in the concept of co-teaching and co-research across institutions of HE locally and globally, as a response to limited international mobility due to COVID-19. We see co-teaching and co-research as teaching and research that connects educators and learners across different institutions and different contexts, be it across South Africa, Africa or the world. Co-teaching and co-research is linked in this book to the term ‘networked learning’, following the Networked Learning Editorial Collective’s emphasis on relationships and collaboration rather than technology and foregrounding our strong commitment to social justice. Our collective experiences have shown that co-teaching and co-research are not easy endeavours, especially when they involve differently positioned and differently resourced contexts, students and academics. While these collaborations are enriching and exciting, they need careful support, preparation and time for sustained relationship building – topics that we find are not necessarily discussed in the literature around co-teaching and co-research. This book is an attempt towards closing this gap in knowledge by providing a range of chapters documenting personal experiences of academics and practitioners engaging in co-teaching and co-research across the African continent and beyond, facilitated by various networked learning tools and technologies. Framed by a spirit of sharing and connection, the book provides insights into the benefits and challenges of such collaborations, affordances of technologies to bridge unequal divides, emerging practices of continental collaboration and beyond. Additionally, the book provides an unusually honest and nuanced view on co-teaching and co-research across contexts of inequalities, foregrounding relationship- and community-building rather than technology and emphasising the importance of sustained connection and reflection in these collaborations. Applying a wide range of critical theoretical frameworks, these evidence-based but also reflective and reflexive contributions are a unique and important reminder that behind and through our screens, we connect as humans who yearn to learn from each other, but also need to learn how to learn from each other, when we do not share the same world views.

Freedom Taking Place: War, Women and Culture at the Intersection of Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus

Edited by Jessica Zychowicz, Fulbright Ukraine; Institute of International Education Kyiv office, Ukraine

Freedom as a concept shifts with different forms of expression. As the authors of this volume convey in their focus on 'freedom of expression', the idea of 'freedom' in the twenty-first century does not stand apart as a purely physical location marked by national borders. In the Internet Age information is increasingly co-determinate of physical freedom. The information-dense space of the protests of 2021, and beyond, provide soil for the intellectuals writing in this volume to reflect on women’s agency in struggles for human rights. Where historical discourse on “The Woman Question” once conflicted with “feminism” as a perceived importation from the West, this conflict also produced productive tensions that have provided ongoing sites for research. When closely studied, these contexts can deepen global concepts of democracy and justice, providing not only pathways for acts of solidarity and mutual assistance, but intellectual depth and breadth for the future 'ways of knowing', and thus ways of creating, more equitable post-conflict power systems and citizenship amid times of revolution and war. Coming from multiple generations, gender identities, nationalities, and language; the authors in this volume represent the most forward-thinking voices and figures working on gender in the region today.

Project(ing) Human: Representations of Disability in Science Fiction

Edited by Courtney Stanton, Rutgers University-Newark

This edited volume examines representations of disability within popular science fiction, using examples from television, film, literature, and gaming to explore how the genre of science fiction shapes cultural understanding of disability experience. Science fiction texts typically grapple with concepts such as transhumanism, embodiment, and autonomy more directly than do those of other genres. In doing so, they raise significant questions about the experience of disability. More broadly, they often convey the place of disability in not only the future but also the world of today. Through critical research, the chapters within this interdisciplinary collection explore what science fiction texts convey about the value of disability, whether it be through disabled characters, biotechnologies, or, more broadly, conceptions of an idealized future. Chapters are grouped thematically and include discussions of the intersections of disability with other identity groups, the interplay of disability and market/capitalist value, and how disability shapes current and future definitions of human-ness, agency, and autonomy. This full volume builds on current research regarding the relationship of disability studies to the science fiction genre by exploring new themes and contemporary media to aid as an instructional tool for scholars in fields of disability studies, science fiction literature, and media studies.