Journals
2026 EN
Tyran Katharina
This paper addresses the conflicts over minority language signage in Austria and Croatia. It first focuses on the ‘Ortstafelstreit’ on German and Slovene public signs in Carinthia with its peak occurring in autumn 1972. At that time, an angry mob tore down recently installed public signage including the minority language. This analysis examines the discursive topoi and strategies adopted by political and social actors that preceded the actual intrusions in the linguistic landscape and that fostered a disposition eliciting the destruction of linguistic signs by individuals. The article further proposes a comparative perspective to the destruction of Croatian-Serbian linguistic signs in Vukovar, which escalated in 2013. This is when Croatian-Serbian (Latin-Cyrillic) signs should have been installed due to the regulation of the constitutional law on minority rights. It first led to local protests in early 2013, followed by spillover protests in the Croatian capital of Zagreb. When bi-graphic signs have been installed in Vukovar, it caused riots and demonstrations, resulting in individuals destroying linguistic signs. Both the encounters in Carinthia and Croatia are situated in the context of minority rights being implement, however strongly influenced by conflictive ideologies going back to recent war, armed conflicts, and national(ist) movements.
Journals
2026 EN
Kanjilal Satyaki
This paper explores the complexities of teaching fiction writing in Indian higher education. It argues that the Cold War-era workshop model, which originated in the U.S. and emphasizes the written text over broader cultural and socioeconomic contexts responsible for generating the text, is inadequate for Indian universities and colleges lacking dedicated creative writing programs or an opportunity to teach advanced fiction workshops. The paper highlights the logistical challenges faced by instructors, including the limited opportunity to teach fiction writing courses and the lack of exposure of students to craft courses on fiction writing in Indian schools. It critiques the American workshop model and proposes alternative strategies to teach fiction workshops that are tailored to the Indian context. These include a modified anonymous floating workshop model and a seminar-based structure to teach fiction writing. The paper underscores the need for context-sensitive approaches to creative writing pedagogy that address the unique cultural, institutional, and educational realities of Indian universities.
Journals
2026 EN
Naitik · Mishra Binod
In recent years, environment has emerged as a prominent concern in Indian cinema, spanning both mainstream and parallel films. These recent ‘eco cinemas’ or ‘green cinemas’ have critically examined the relationship between nature, culture and anthropocene. Positioning itself in this trajectory, Nag Ashwin’s sci-fi film Kalki 2898 A.D . (2024) presents a dystopian future devoid of natural resources and spiritual-human connections. By drawing parallels between Indian mythology and a futuristic wasteland, the film anticipates ecological threats such as water scarcity, deforestation, pollution and infertility, driven by anthropocentric motives like war, colonisation, and resource concentration. The study situates Kalki 2898 A.D . within the framework of ecocinema and conducts a semiotic analysis to explore the way it portrays the interconnectedness and interdependence between nature and human life. Additionally, it examines the representation of power dynamics in the film, investigating how political sovereignty is exercised through control and regulation over the life and death of biological bodies. Considering Complex as a heterotopia in the diegetic binary of spatial politics, the paper also explores the film’s strategic portrayal of the relationship of urgency between the present and the future.
Journals
2026 EN
Burger Joanna · Gochfeld Michael · Brown Kevin G.
+3 more
Missions for federal facilities, such as the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Energy (DOE), include protecting human health and the environment. The public is interested in whether ecological resources are protected on such lands, especially following remediation of legacy wastes remaining from World War II, Cold War, and industrial activities. Many DOE sites are remediated for future uses depending upon potential for exposure to residual contamination. This study: (1) examined the % ecological resources remaining on Rocky Flats following completion of cleanup, (2) compared the ecological resources (i.e. plant cover) of Rocky Flats (RF) with the surrounding 10-km and 30-km bands of land, and (3) measured % natural vegetation on RF with comparable % on three other large DOE facilities that are still undergoing remediation. Rocky Flats contains significantly more grassland than the surrounding region, with less development, and is mostly a National Wildlife Refuge open to the public. Agriculture and grazing do not occur on RF. The three sites undergoing remediation have significantly more natural habitat (climax vegetation) than their surrounding buffer areas. The aim of this study was to examine the implications of ecological protection of climax vegetation upon these sites and the importance of consistently examining regional ecologies.
Journals
2026 EN
Kalthom Mohammad · Darouei Parisa · Ghamarani Amir
Warfare severely impacts children’s mental health, making them susceptible to Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). This study examines the effectiveness of an expressive art therapy intervention based on the Coping Cat Program to address these issues. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study progresses through three phases: a qualitative assessment of war-affected children’s mental health, the development of a culturally relevant art therapy intervention reviewed by experts, and the validation of the intervention using the Lawshe model and Content Validity Index (CVI), achieving a high efficacy score (0.89). A randomized controlled trial (RCT) with twenty children exhibiting STS symptoms was conducted, with ten children receiving the art therapy intervention. Statistical analysis showed significant reductions in STS symptoms for the intervention group, sustained over a 3-month follow-up. This study highlights the potential of the Art-Therapy Intervention based on the Coping Cat Program to enhance the mental health of war-affected children, recommending broader implementation and further research.
Journals
2026 EN
Tuki Daniel
This study tests the rejection-identification and rejection-disidentification theories in a non-Western context using Afrobarometer survey data ( n = 3,200) from Nigeria, one of Africa’s most ethnically diverse countries. Regression analysis shows that discrimination reduces the likelihood of Nigerians prioritizing their national over their ethnic identity. In other words, discrimination weakens national identification while strengthening ethnic identification. This pattern reflects the exclusionary effect of discrimination, which makes individuals feel like outsiders in their own country. In response, they may turn more strongly to their ethnic identity as a source of belonging, solidarity, and psychological resilience. The association is particularly strong among the Igbo, a group excluded from central political power in Nigeria since the end of the Biafran War in 1970. These findings suggest that the relationship between discrimination and identity formation depends on one’s position within the broader ethnic and political landscape.
Journals
2026 EN
Rubinstein Dori · Lahad Mooli · Aharonson-Daniel Limor
+3 more
This study explores the mental health impact of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) during wartime, focusing on the prevalence and severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative symptoms among a sample of 1,511 Israeli adults exposed to the recent war. Data were collected during the third month of the Israel-Hamas war. Our findings reveal elevated clinical PTSD symptoms (36.8%) and dissociation (16.3%) across the population, including 17.8% of individuals not directly exposed to trauma who nonetheless reported PTSD symptoms above the clinical threshold. These results challenge the adequacy of DSM-5 Criterion A in ongoing conflict contexts, where indirect exposure can contribute significantly to psychological distress. Furthermore, participants exposed to three or more PTEs demonstrated markedly higher PTSD and dissociative symptoms, emphasizing the cumulative burden of repeated trauma. These findings suggest that clinicians must consider both the number and nature of PTEs when developing treatment plans. Additionally, mental health policies should account for the psychological effects of indirect trauma, particularly in settings of ongoing conflict, where the entire population is at risk. The study highlights the urgent need for tailored interventions that address the complex and enduring mental health challenges associated with both direct and by-proxy trauma exposure.
Journals
2026 EN
Litvak Hirsch Tal · Kassif Ben-Arie Dana
This study examines the effectiveness of an integrative workshop model that combines support groups, yoga, and mindfulness practices to manage stress among university students in Israel. The research spans two consecutive academic years, allowing for a unique comparison: one year during an active war and another year without direct conflict, though the students continued living in a region characterized by constant tension. This contrast provides an opportunity to explore the workshop’s impact under both acute wartime stress and ongoing, chronic stress in a conflict zone. Twenty interviews were conducted with female undergraduates who participated in the year-long workshop, which aimed to provide holistic coping mechanisms for both everyday stressors and the heightened anxiety caused by the conflict environment. The findings revealed that while each component of the workshop—support group, yoga, and mindfulness—individually contributed to stress reduction, the integrative model produced a synergistic effect that significantly enhanced the participants’ overall ability to manage stress. Participants reported improved emotional regulation, physical well-being, and a sense of community support. Many expressed a desire to share the tools they had acquired with others, highlighting the lasting impact of the workshop. These findings suggest the potential benefits of implementing similar workshops in universities and other settings, particularly in regions affected by war and conflict.
Journals
2026 EN
Morgan Jonathan E.
This report is a research and development engineer’s perspective on the fascinating story of the world’s first megaton-class thermonuclear device, IVY Mike (10.4 Mt). Few modern scientific endeavors have matched the complexity and breadth of scientific achievement in such a short amount of time as IVY Mike. This paper will take a look at the design, engineering, fielding, and execution of the world’s first megaton-class physics experiment by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and the birth of industrial liquid hydrogen use spawned by the Cold War effort. Although others have written on aspects of this technical history, they have not benefited from access to the original classified documents used by the present author. The present paper must necessarily omit some technical details that remain classified but represents the most comprehensive summary of the engineering and fabrication of the IVY Mike device in the open literature.
Journals
2026 EN
Banatvala Oliver
This article focuses on Galeria Plaza in Kraków, a shopping mall that was transformed into a refugee shelter to help cope with the refugee crisis in Poland caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It seeks to develop understandings of the lived experience of Poland’s swift response to this huge influx of people in 2022 and issues surrounding repurposing the built environment in this context. It does this by adopting an everyday geopolitical approach, contributing to the burgeoning research on the everyday geopolitics of Russia’s war on Ukraine, by centering the lived experience of those fleeing Ukraine following the full-scale invasion and those who awaited them upon their arrival in Kraków. At the center of this paper is the term “mall-shelter”, which I employ to advocate for an approach to refugee shelters that focuses on the specificities of each individual case, recognizes the potential fluidity of the built environment, and centers the lives of those who used the space.