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Presents a bibliographies of books on anthropology, sociology and history.

Societal Impact Statement: The coronavirus pandemic has reminded us that green spaces provide sanctuary and comfort, as well as opportunities for release and relief, during difficult times. However, to ensure continuing viability, botanical gardens can do more to address important societal concerns, especially around the environment. Sustaining relevance through action, especially local action, while also thinking beyond botanical science, and making creative use of electronic outreach will help botanic gardens to flourish. Summary: This paper is a personal reflection on high‐level issues relevant to future of botanic gardens and similar organisations, based on the personal experiences of the author at the Field Museum in Chicago, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (now the Yale School of the Environment) in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in northern Virginia. Botanic gardens have the inherent advantage that passages of nature, especially in cities, are vital for individual and social well‐being. But this natural advantage needs to be supplemented by actions that take into account a changing world and that respond in meaningful ways to the concerns of supporters and stakeholders. I emphasise five principles that are important now and for the future: (1) Sustaining relevance is key; (2) science is not enough; (3) actions speak louder than words; (4) local action is disproportionately important; and (5) electronic outreach is not optional. Leadership from outstanding individuals is also vital. Finding, encouraging and developing energetic people who are open minded, determined to make a difference and willing to embrace change is vital for institutional success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooley's argument that persons with pre-dementia have a Kantian duty to die has led to much debate. Cooley gives two reasons for his claim, the first being that a person with pre-dementia should end his/her life when he/she will inevitably and irreversibly lose rationality and be unable to live morally as a result. This paper argues that this reason derives from an unsubstantiated premise and general confusion regarding the condition for a Kantian duty to die. Rather, a close reading of Kant reveals that such a condition occurs when a person confronts an external handicap that does not undermine his/her rational ability but deprives him/her of the possibility of living the way a person should. People do not confront this experience with progressive dementia. The other reason Cooley proposes is that a person should not allow their continued existence to become a burden to others. This claim partly stems from a radical interpretation of a case discussed by Kant and is partly based on a misuse of Kant's formulation of humanity. Based on a prudent inference from Kantian ethics, this article argues against Cooley that persons with pre-dementia have no Kantian duty to die., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The chairs of Special Interest Group/Arts & Humanities and Special Interest Group/Visualization, Images and Sound have assembled articles that cover a range of research and projects reflecting the confluence of the two topics. Papers describe expanded access to resources in the humanities previously unavailable, leading to a digital renaissance. This access enables data mining and new insights for research and analysis, as well as enhanced possibilities for presenting results with interactive capabilities. Case studies explore information visualization technologies used to enrich a thesis presentation, cast literary analysis in a new light and reveal associations among scholars. The advantages of visualization extend to thesaurus-powered search interfaces but are shown to be an under-exploited tool for music research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, four relational heuristic responses for exploring new modes of engagement, or patterns of activity, that could enliven humanity's efforts in fostering systemic thinking and action to inform sustainability transitions are offered. Their purpose is to realise more resilient and just Anthropocene futures. These relational heuristics are (1) re‐patterning our theories of change‐making, (2) cultivating a shared future consciousness, (3) creating transformative spaces and (4) engaging in processes of co‐exploration. We argue that these heuristics are better aligned for studying and responding to the systemic and interdependent nature of the real‐world challenges we are currently facing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have investigated factors thought to affect the total number of citations in various academic disciplines, and some general trends have emerged. However, there are still limited data for many fields, including aquatic sciences. Using papers published in 2003–2005 (n = 785), we investigated marine and freshwater biology articles to identify factors that may contribute to the probability of citation and for cumulative citation counts over 10 years. We found no relationships with probability of citation; however, we found evidence that for those that were cited at least once, cumulative citations were related to several factors. Articles cited by books received more citations than those never cited by books, which we hypothesized to be indicative of the impact an article may have in the field. We also found that articles first cited within 2 years of publication received more cumulative citations than those first cited after 2 years. We found no evidence that self‐citation (as the first citation) had a significant effect on total citations. Our findings were compared with previous studies in other disciplines, and it was found that aquatic science citation patterns are comparable to fields in science and technology but less so to humanities and social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings together results from the philosophy and the psychology of explanation to argue that there are multiple concepts of explanation in human psychology. Specifically, it is shown that pluralism about explanation coheres with the multiplicity of models of explanation available in the philosophy of science, and it is supported by evidence from the psychology of explanatory judgment. Focusing on the case of a norm of explanatory power, the paper concludes by responding to the worry that if there is a plurality of concepts of explanation, one will not be able to normatively evaluate what counts as good explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on several conferences relating to systems research and behavioral science. International Federation for Information Processing TC8 International Conference on Research and Practical Issues of Enterprise Information Systems to be held from April 24 to 26, 2006 in Vienna, Austria; Concern of the 6th International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations to be held from June 12 to 15, 2006 in New Orleans, Louisiana; International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities to be held from July 3 to 6, 2006 in Tunis, Tunisia.

The author presents an overview of the key aims and innovations for the journal over the next five years. It aims to develop the range of papers published in the journal across the spectrum of geographical scholarship and research, spanning approaches and setting agendas across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

In this paper, concerns are addressed regarding the validity of the Quest scale introduced by Batson (1976) and Batson and Ventis (1982). Some have wondered whether this scale might be more a measure of agnosticism, of anti-orthodoxy, of sophomoric religious doubt, or of religious conflict, if indeed, it is a measure of anything religious at all. We have reviewed the available evidence regarding validity, much of which has appeared in unpublished research reports, theses, dissertations, or convention papers, and thus has not been widely available. Based on the evidence, we have concluded that the Quest scale does indeed measure a dimension of personal religion very much like the one it was designed to measure: an open-ended, active approach to existential questions that resists clear-cut, pat answers, Concerns regarding the reliability of the Quest scale, which have proved more persistent, are addressed in a companion paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Digitalisation and digitality are changing the world – and the sciences and humanities with it. This transformation gives rise to unpredictable opportunities for knowledge yet at the same time poses enormous challenges that must be addressed in science‐driven research funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Whereas ethical considerations on imaging techniques and interpretations of neuroimaging results flourish, there is not much work on their preconditions. In this paper, therefore, we discuss epistemological considerations on neuroimaging and their implications for neuroethics. Results: Neuroimaging uses indirect methods to generate data about surrogate parameters for mental processes, and there are many determinants influencing the results, including current hypotheses and the state of knowledge. This leads to an interdependence between hypotheses and data. Additionally, different levels of description are involved, especially when experiments are designed to answer questions pertaining to broad concepts like the self, empathy or moral intentions. Interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks are needed to integrate findings from the life sciences and the humanities and to translate between them. While these epistemological issues are not specific for neuroimaging, there are some reasons why they are of special importance in this context: Due to their inferential proximity, ‘neuro-images’ seem to be self-evident, suggesting directness of observation and objectivity. This has to be critically discussed to prevent overinterpretation. Additionally, there is a high level of attention to neuroimaging, leading to a high frequency of presentation of neuroimaging data and making the critical examination of their epistemological properties even more pressing. Conclusions: Epistemological considerations are an important prerequisite for neuroethics. The presentation and communication of the results of neuroimaging studies, the potential generation of new phenomena and new ‘dysfunctions’ through neuroimaging, and the influence on central concepts at the foundations of ethics will be important future topics for this discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geography and the medical-health sciences have long histories of engaging the humanities. The last decade has seen for both disciplines a significant growth in theoretical frameworks, pedagogic strategies, and research methods that draw upon visual and literary arts, critical self-reflection, creative tools and expressions, and even direct engagement or partnership with artists, curators, authors, theatre-practitioners, and other professionals in the arts. Both geographers and medical-health professionals, then, are increasingly (re)making and understanding various worlds through the humanities. In this paper we explore the histories of humanities in both geography and the medical-health sciences, especially medicine: we argue the two disciplines have much to learn from each other's engagement and work with the humanities. Focusing on the increasing use of narrative and storytelling in both disciplines, we argue that deployment of humanities-based frameworks and impulses must not be taken up without careful and critical analytical reflection. Finally, we ground our theoretical explorations with empirical examples from recent community-based work about the risks and benefits of storytelling and visual arts when looking at the health geographies of Indigenous and settler peoples in Northern British Columbia. De manière impromptue : vers une démarche critique sur les méthodes de mise en récit et les méthodologies en géographie et en sciences médicales et de la santé L'intérêt pour les sciences humaines par la géographie et les sciences médicales et de la santé s'inscrit dans une longue tradition. Au cours de la dernière décennie, les deux disciplines ont connu une importante croissance de cadres théoriques, de stratégies pédagogiques et de méthodes de recherche qui font appel aux arts visuels et à la littérature, à l'autoréflexion critique, à des outils et modes d'expression novateurs, voire même à une participation directe ou à des partenariats avec des artistes, conservateurs, auteurs, praticiens de l'art dramatique et d'autres professionnels du domaine des arts. Autant les géographes que les professionnels de la médecine et de la santé contribuent de plus en plus à (re)constituer et comprendre divers mondes à travers les sciences humaines. Cet article brosse un tableau historique des sciences humaines tant en géographie qu'en sciences médicales et de la santé, en particulier la médecine : nous soutenons que les deux disciplines ont beaucoup à apprendre l'une de l'autre sur l'intérêt que chacune porte aux sciences humaines. En mettant l'accent sur le recours grandissant par les deux disciplines à la narration et à la mise en récit, nous faisons valoir l'idée que le déploiement des cadres et des impulsions fondés sur les sciences humaines ne peut pas être envisagé sans mener au préalable une réflexion analytique minutieuse et critique. Enfin, nous fondons cette étude du champ théorique sur des exemples empiriques tirés de travaux réalisés à l'échelle communautaire sur les risques et les avantages de la mise en récit et des arts visuels quand on se penche sur les aspects géographiques de la santé des peuples autochtones et colonisateurs dans le nord de la Colombie-Britannique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some futurists and philosophers have urged that recent developments in biotechnology promise advancements that challenge standard accepted views of human nature, the self, and ethical obligation. Additionally, some have urged that developments in artificial intelligence similarly raise interesting new challenges to our conceptions of the mind, morality, and the future direction for conscious entities generally. Some have even gone so far as to argue in defense of "artificial replacement," which is the view that humanity should be prepared to "hand over the keys," so to speak, to a new sort of intelligent collection of entities and that we should go extinct gracefully. These views suggest a new challenge to the anti‐natalist view that people should stop procreating: perhaps humanity is obligated to not allow itself to go extinct quite yet, at least until we have ensured that these next stages of intelligent entity have emerged. When we take into consideration some possibilities for entities with minds relevantly different from our own, we confront a challenge to the asymmetry argument that concerns human‐like minds. Call this the "future minds challenge to anti‐natalism." I will examine some assumptions that underlie such a challenge, and I will argue that some famous articulations of the anti‐natalist stance should be revised in light of such technological advancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though research papers have traditionally been presented as text, digital humanities tools bring new capabilities that can transform a presentation. Moving from a familiar written format to a digital multimedia work can be daunting, involving an unfamiliar work process. Technology options and support are available through a variety of sources, including universities, the American Studies Association's Digital Humanities Caucus and the Alliance for Digital Humanities Organizations. Choosing a presentation tool that supports desired features, such as interactive conversation, is key.While the process of developing a digital presentation can be initially challenging for an author, reproducing a traditional thesis in a dynamic format makes it more lively and engaging, collaborative and available for broader use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposal we offer here (and in the more extensive 'white paper' proposal on which this article is based) tackles head-on the open access (OA) business models that have proven particularly problematic for implementation of OA in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). Our proposal suggests all tertiary institutions contribute to systemic support of the research process itself, including its entire scholarly output. A bold rethinking of the economics of OA by way of partnerships among scholarly societies and academic libraries funded by an institutional fee structure based on a student-and-faculty per-capita sliding scale, our plan is nevertheless intentionally incremental. Our proposal focuses first on HSS and primarily in the United States, but just as research and scholarship are increasingly global and collaborative, our plan is not bound by discipline or national borders, but can be adopted by all those looking for a more equitable and sustainable OA model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the argument of four-dimentionalists that their metaphysics is much higher in terms of philosophy than the three-dimensionalists. They believe that the basic philosophical elements of the world are 4D or temporal parts of which familiar objects such as trees and papers exist through time by the fusions of the temporal parts. On the contrary, the three-dimensionalists claim that the world is composed of subatomic particles which have no temporal parts.

Comparative religious ethics is a complicated scholarly endeavor, striving to harmonize intellectual goals that are frequently conceived as quite different, or even intrinsically opposed. Against commonly voiced suspicions of comparative work, this essay argues that descriptive, comparative, and normative interests may support rather than conflict with each other, depending on the comparison in question, and how it is pursued. On the basis of a brief comparison of the early Christian Augustine of Hippo and the early Confucians Mencius and Xunzi on the topic of“human nature,” this paper advocates a particular account of comparative religious ethics, and argues for the complexity of the idea of“human nature.” Different elements of this family of concerns are central to religious ethics generally, and to theories and practices of moral development and personal formation specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rae Langton and David Lewis have proposed an account of "intrinsic property" that makes use of two notions: being independent of accompaniment and being natural. W e find the appeal to the first of these promising; the second notion, however, we find mystifying. In this paper we argue that the appeal to naturalness is not acceptable and offer an alternative definition of intrinsicality. The alternative definition makes crucial use of a notion commonly used by philosophers, namely, the notion of one property being had in virtue of another property. We defend our account against three arguments for thinking that this "in virtue of' notion is unacceptable in this context. We also take a look at a variety of cases in which the definition might be applied and defend it against potential counterexamples. The upshot, we think, is a modest but adequate account of what we understand by "intrinsic property." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out to re-examine the famous Wax Tablet model in Plato's Theaetetus, in particular the section of it which appeals to the quality of individual souls' wax as an explanation of why some are more liable to make mistakes than others (194c-195a). This section has often been regarded as an ornamental flourish or a humorous appendage to the model's main explanatory business. Yet in their own appropriations both Aristotle and Locke treat the notion of variable wax quality as an important part of the model's utility in dealing with mistake. What, then, is its status for Plato? 1 shall argue that the section on variable wax quality is there to suggest to the reader a tempting way of misinterpreting the model. This will highlight the distinctive character of the model in its original version, and provide an unusual example of a philosopher describing how not to read one of his own doctrines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the financial activities, ideological foundations and goals of three new religious movements The movements are: 3HO Foundation, Divine Light Mission and Vajradhatu Research methods include participant observation, taped interviews, analysis of movement literature and examinations of group financial records. Results indicate that worldly success has become a religiously significant venture for at least two new religious movements Within these groups there is a high degree of successful entrepreneurial and professional activity There is also organizational and ideological support from the movements' leadership to the membership to become rich. Several interpretations are offered including historical precedent, sect-church transformation, institutionalization, a search for legitimacy and leadership influences Resource mobilization is argued to be the most effective theoretical approach Accordingly, movement direction is determined by rational leadership decisions in a practical attempt to realize projected goals and to promote group maintenance and survival.
In this paper we have demonstrated that a trend exists toward individual worldly success within at least two new religious movements. These two groups, 3HO Foundation and Vajradhatu, have developed an ideological orientation that supports worldly success as a religiously significant venture and thereby sees no contradiction between the spiritual and the earthly realm. The variety and the success of the money-making ventures undertaken by members of these two groups is especially noteworthy considering that the groups themselves only began 14 years ago.
We have argued that the turn to worldly success by the new religious movements did not result from a transition from a sect ideal-type to a church ideal-type nor did it result from institutionalization. Our evidence indicates that the transition was initiated by rational leadership decisions in response to changing social and... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that it is feasible and useful to insert positive and negative assumptions about the supernatural into scientific theories of religion. The logic of constructing theories makes it possible to insert such statements into theories as postulates, along with ordinary propositions from general systems theory and reinforcement theory, and then to deduce tenable propositions. The logical procedures to follow are carefully described, and several examples are given. It is shown that when differing assumptions about the supernatural are made, differing and opposed empirical propositions about religious behavior can be deduced. It is also shown that incorporating assumptions about the supernatural can produce testable propositions not usually considered by scientific students of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to examines sociological ramifications of the philosophy of T. H. Green. The main arguments of the paper flow from the opening critical remarks on M. Richter's account of Green in The Politics of Conscience. (I) Green was innovative in respect of this Kantian philosophy of duty, philosophy similar to which were subsequently common at Oxford, rather than in respect of his Hegelianism, and (2) although Green had reformist intentions, the Kantian philosophy of duty was harnessed by others to the pre-emption of utilitarian reform: this is shown through an analysis of the direction of change prior to Green, and of the strategy of those who promoted his mode of thought. Senses in which this analysis substantiates conceptions of the peculiarly British pattern of pre-emption of middle class revolution by the aristocracy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deke Caiñas Gould (2021) argues that the possibility of future non‐human‐like minds who are not harmed by coming into existence poses a challenge to David Benatar's well‐known Asymmetry Argument for anti‐natalism. Since the good of these future minds has the potential to outweigh the current harms of human existence, they can be appealed to in order to justify procreation. I argue that Gould's argument rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of Benatar's argument. According to the Asymmetry Argument, if a person experiences any harm at all, then bringing them into existence is unjustified. It does not depend upon on‐balance judgments about the relative harms and benefits of existence. It therefore remains impermissible to procreate right now in our world, regardless of the prospect of future humans contributing to the successful development of beings who are not harmed by existence. I conclude by addressing two alternate readings of Gould, which, for the sake of argument, permit such on‐balance judgments, and show why they fail to rescue his case. Benatar's Asymmetry Argument might be unsound, but not for any reason identified by Gould. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Healthcare is witnessing a new disease with the emergence of Long Covid; a condition which can result in myriad symptoms, varying in frequency and severity. As new data are emerging to help inform treatment guidelines, the perspectives of those living with Long Covid are essential in informing healthcare practice. The research aimed to collect the narratives of people living with Long Covid to better understand the lived experience of this condition. In attempting to narrate complex or traumatic experiences the arts and humanities can offer alternative ways of expressing embodied narratives, representing rich sources of meaning. Therefore, the research specifically sought to elicit creative expressions from participants with lived experience of Long Covid. Methods: Data were collected via an online repository where participants could submit their pieces of creative writing. Data were collected between August 2021 and January 2022 and a total of 28 submissions were received from participants. These were mostly written creative narratives. However, a small number were submitted as audio or video files of spoken word poetry or songs. Data collection was stopped once data saturation was achieved. Results: The submissions were subjected to thematic analysis and five themes were generated. These five themes are Identity, social relationships, symptoms, interaction with healthcare systems and time. The results provide an insight into the experience of Long Covid as detailed by the participants' creative narratives. Conclusion: The results from this study provide a unique insight into the lived experience of Long Covid. In relation to clinical practice, the results suggest that adjustment reaction and loss of sense of self could be added as common symptoms. Patient and Public Contribution: Before undertaking the research, Long Covid community groups were contacted to discuss the potential value of this study and it was widely supported. One of the leading Long Covid support groups was also involved in disseminating information regarding the project. As part of ongoing work within this project, members of the team are actively disseminating the results within Long Covid communities and seeking to develop arts‐based workshops specifically for people with Long Covid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposed system aims at automatic identification of an unknown dance posture referring to the 20 primitive postures of ballet, simultaneously measuring the proximity of an unknown dance posture to a known primitive. A simple and novel six stage algorithm achieves the desired objective. Skin colour segmentation is performed on the dance postures, the output of which is dilated and is processed to generate skeletons of the original postures. The stick figure diagrams laden with minor irregularities are transubstantiated to generate their affirming minimised skeletons. Each of the 20 postures based on their corresponding Euler number are categorised into five groups. Simultaneously the line integral plots of the dance primitives are determined by performing Radon transform on the minimised skeletons. The line integral plots of the fundamental postures along with their Euler number populate the initial database. The group of an unknown posture is determined based on its Euler number, while successively the unknown posture's line integral plot is compared with the line integral plots of the postures belonging to that group. An empirically determined threshold finally decides on the correctness of the performed posture. While recognising unknown postures, the proposed system registers an overall accuracy of 91.35%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Pay to publish and open access have been studied extensively, but less so in disciplines such as philosophy and ethics. This study examines the habits and perceptions of researchers from these two fields in Spain. The study draws on data from a survey (completed by 201 out of 541 researchers), a public debate with 26 researchers, and 14 in‐depth interviews. Our results offer some interesting insights into the criteria researchers apply when selecting publishers and journals, notably the value they place on the absence of publication fees. However, habits differ for publishing an article or a book, since payment to publish books is more widespread. The study finds contrasting views on the market for publishing books and journals: some respondents perceived what they consider to be the commercialisation of publishing in academic journals, while others provide arguments to support the Spanish book industry. Sceptical views were also voiced on pay to publish as a funding model. Finally, the study finds broad agreement among the researchers surveyed that publicly funded research should be free to read. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do universities still need departments in the humanities—philosophy, history, languages, and so forth? Many today, particularly legislators with control over the funding of public universities, feel that the emphasis should be on, and only on, departments in the STEM field. Willem B. Drees, a former dean of humanities, makes a spirited defense of the worth of the humanities and of their continued place in higher education. This essay looks at Drees's arguments in a critical, yet appreciative, fashion. It is a debate we need to have. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argues that endurance, or at least the existence of enduring objects that can possible undergo change of parts, implies presentism, a doctrine about the nature of time. Familiar line of argument against the claim that persisting objects endure; Description of enduring objects and perduring objects.

Bainbridge and Stark's essay on The Consciousness Reformation illustrates conceptual and theoretical ambiguities characteristic of research in the scientific study of religion more generally. This paper traces these ambiguities to the presence of two competing, but poorly differentiated, epistemological traditions. An examination of the assumptions implicit within each of these traditions provides a basis for clarifying the distinction between religious symbolism and religious belief, the concept of meaning, the difference between consistency as an attribute of belief and coherence as an attribute of reality, and the role of interpersonal bonds in maintaining the plausibility of religious symbolism. An emerging third perspective that appears to circumvent some of the limitations of the two major epistemological traditions is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on sociologist Peter L. Berger's definition of religion. In his stimulating article in the June 1974 issue of Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Berger presents an argument for reconsidering the kind of definition employed in the scientific study of religion. The major thread of his argument runs as follows. Concepts and definitions are tools fitted to the purposes of the investigator, like substantive or functional definitions of religion. Some use functional definitions for ideological purposes, that is to avoid specifically religious experience or to deny the transcendent. The scientific study of religion needs a reinvigorated substantive definition of religion from the phenomenological approaches of analysis of the numinous as religious experience and of model of multiple realities. The author agrees with Berger's approach while disagreeing with the impact of the total argument. The author holds that there are issues in the formation of concepts and definitions which are logically prior to the purposes of investigators.

Presents the systems sciences as a field of inquiry and discusses the way in which it evolved in relation to the humanities. Origins and foundations of the system sciences; Normative component of the systems sciences; Trends in the application to humanities; Benefits of the partnership between systems sciences and the humanities.

This article offers insights on issues related to open-access publishing. For the author, open access is not a free publication system, however, it incurs costs just as on-paper traditional journal publishing does; the model used by many open-access publishers, whereby the author pays a fee on publication, derives from STM grants and awards practice and disadvantages social science and humanities authors who typically receive no costs of publication elements in their grants, or researchers who self-fund. The move to open-access publication may harm the publication business of many learned societies, large and small, to the detriment of their scholarly activities and thus cause their members disbenefit. The author believed that open access is a useful model whereby researchers, primarily in the sciences and predominantly in the Anglo-American publishing, can communicate their research results to their peers. He also accepted that self-archiving is one method of storing and allowing retrieval of published papers, or works in progress. In several disciplines and in many countries, electronic publishing of research papers whether in open-access formats or in subscription or other paid-on-publication models will not be desirable, convenient or effective.

The term Anthropocene initially emerged from the Earth System science community in the early 2000s, denoting a concept that the Holocene Epoch has terminated as a consequence of human activities. First associated with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, it was then more closely linked with the Great Acceleration in industrialization and globalization from the 1950s that fundamentally modified physical, chemical, and biological signals in geological archives. Since 2009, the Anthropocene has been evaluated by the Anthropocene Working Group, tasked with examining it for potential inclusion in the Geological Time Scale. Such inclusion requires a precisely defined chronostratigraphic and geochronological unit with a globally synchronous base and inception, with the mid‐twentieth century being geologically optimal. This reflects an Earth System state in which human activities have become predominant drivers of modifications to the stratigraphic record, making it clearly distinct from the Holocene. However, more recently, the term Anthropocene has also become used for different conceptual interpretations in diverse scholarly fields, including the environmental and social sciences and humanities. These are often flexibly interpreted, commonly without reference to the geological record, and diachronous in time; they often extend much further back in time than the mid‐twentieth century. These broader conceptualizations encompass wide ranges and levels of human impacts and interactions with the environment. Here, we clarify what the Anthropocene is in geological terms and compare the proposed geological (chronostratigraphic) definition with some of these broader interpretations and applications of the term "Anthropocene," showing both their overlaps and differences. Plain Language Summary: The Anthropocene concept, that modern human impacts on Earth have been sufficient to bring in a new geological epoch, is only two decades old. In that short time, its use has grown explosively, not only in the Earth sciences but also far more widely to spread through the sciences generally, to spill over into the social sciences, arts, and humanities. This has led to welcome discussions between diverse scholarly communities, though also to some very different interpretations of the Anthropocene, when interpreted through different disciplinary lenses. Notably, the geological interpretation used as basis for a potential unit of the Geological Time Scale, of a time unit starting planet‐wide and synchronously in the mid‐twentieth century with the massive changes triggered by industrialization and globalization, jars with interpretations of an Anthropocene that ranges back many millennia to encompass early human environmental impacts. We analyze and compare these diverse standpoints and their effect upon evolving disciplinary practices, and discuss approaches that could make communication clearer and enhance cross‐disciplinary exchanges. Key Points: The Anthropocene concept developed in the Earth System science community is closely consistent with its proposed chronostratigraphic (geological) definitionA wide range of other meanings of the Anthropocene subsequently emerged that represent inherently valid, but partly different, conceptsCross‐disciplinary discussion is encouraged to help resolve issues of meaning and communication in this important area [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, there is a very limited literature on the use of systems ideas and methodologies as a basis for developing curriculum or courses. To fill the gap, this study has made several contributions by employing systems theory and thinking in analysing issues related to higher education. Industry 4.0 is reshaping the future of education, which opens up our vision and makes us to consider what knowledge and skills students should possess after they have graduated from college, when to accelerate workforce reskilling and what is the building blocks and connections of education supply chain. In this study, it is the first time the concept of 'education supply chain' is proposed and coined. Furthermore, our research has led us to view educational systems and configurations, such as international mobility and transnationalization, as outcomes of enduring power related to industrial revolutions. Finally, a curriculum structure based on system thinking is proposed. We engage our inquiry with transformations that are happening around higher education and position our research on the benefits of sharing of global intellectual resource and top talents through transnational mobility and education joint ventures in the context of Industry 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat loss and climate change are displacing animals at alarming rates. In response, authors in the humanities and the sciences have described animals rhetorically as 'refugees'. Such a description implies a strong call to action.However, the term 'refugee' may serve as more than mere rhetoric, indicating in a more literal way the response most proper to some persecuted, traumatized and displaced animals, and prioritizing those animals.We test the claim that animals can be refugees using widely accepted criteria in the Refugee Convention. If refugees are those who, due to a well‐founded fear of persecution for reasons of their group identity, are unwilling or unable to avail themselves of the protection of their country, then some animals may be refugees. Recent behavioural research on African elephants Loxodonta africana demonstrates that many elephants meet the criteria, even without recourse to the claim that they are persons.We outline the essential requirements of an animal refugee policy. We find that current biodiversity conservation policy is likely inadequate to provide for animal refugees, although important lessons can be taken from the collective experience of conservation scientists and managers.An obligation to animal refugees poses new challenges, both theoretical and practical, for ecological restoration, conservation and human–animal relations. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A set of science‐inspired cosmic narratives referred to as the Epic of Evolution and the Universe Story or, collectively, the new cosmology, proposes to bring humans closer to nature by placing us into the broader narrative of the cosmos. This article responds to commentary and critique on my book Consecrating Science: Wonder, Knowledge, and the Natural World, which critically examines these science‐based cosmic narratives and their particular and problematic modes and objects of wonder. Themes include the relationship of wonder to science and ethical engagement; the question of whether wonder, grounded in everyday sensory experience, can scale up to the level of global environmental problems; the relevance of wonder to nonideal environments and negative affects like fear or grief; and the importance of humanistic and religious studies scholarship for critiquing grand narratives of science, among other themes. I also respond to claims that my book misdiagnoses and distorts the work of the new cosmology and its claims to wonder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of initiatives exist in European countries to support open scholarly communication in humanities and social sciences. This article looks at the work of Open Access in the European Research Area through Scholarly Communication (OPERAS), a consortium of 36 partners from all over Europe, including many university presses, that is working to build a future European infrastructure to address the challenges in open access publishing. Their initial study, OPERAS‐D, revealed a variety of models among the partners influenced by national cultures. Although the partners’ activities were found to be fragmented, they also reflect the ‘bibliodiversity’ that exists in European societies. To address the challenge of fragmentation, it is argued that, by following a cooperative model, European actors can benefit by sharing expertise, resources, and costs of development for the good of all. As a future infrastructure to support open scholarly communication across Europe, OPERAS aims to coordinate a range of publishers and service providers to offer researchers and societies a fully functional web of services to cover the entire research lifecycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Special Session sponsored by the Historical Records Committee (HRC) with the Ecological Society of America focused on the theme of preserving ecology’s record for the 21st century with opportunities and challenges. It focuses on the needs and opportunities for historical preservation.

In this article, incoherent results of the associations between subjective well-being and economic status at multiple social levels are shown. Although individual-level positive associations are shown within developed countries, national-level associations disappear among developed countries. Group/area-level associations, meanwhile, do exist within Japanese societies. From these inconsistent phenomena, a sociocultural unit is proposed, within which well-being of people is collectively shared based on mutual reciprocity. The simple addition of social scientific results themselves cannot reconstruct the whole range of phenomena. Humanities could be considered as the glue, which adds sociocultural meanings to the generalized scientific results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociobiology is a grand narrative of evolutionary biology on which to build unified knowledge. Consilience is a metaphorical representation of that narrative. I take up the same metaphor but apply it differently. I evoke the image of jumping together, not on solid ground but on the strong, flexible canvas sheet of a trampoline, on which natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities jump together. This image overlaps with the traditional East Asian way of understanding-that is, the 'Heaven-Earth-Person Triad.' Using recent insights from cognitive science-metaphor, embodiment, and conceptual blending-I propose the alternative way of 'bio-socio-humanities' to understand and experience the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on interdisciplinary research in biology. An interdisciplinary team at the University of Reading, England, is working on a project which seeks to highlight the value to biological research from various approaches drawn from the humanities. The team at Reading has been focusing on two humanities disciplines, history and literature, and providing presentations on those areas that can be relevant for biologists.

This article is concerned with how six of the largest learned associations in the humanities perceive their own futures and the future of academic publishing, and is based upon informal interviews with representatives of these associations. The outcome of this research indicates that although these organizations are aware of the changing role of learned associations in relation to their members and a wider public, they are struggling to embrace the opportunities represented by the transition to electronic forms of interaction within scholarly communities, and are limited by the lack of funding available in the humanities and an historical commitment to traditional forms of publication and evaluation. In conclusion, this study proposes that the future of learned associations in the humanities is closely linked to the future of academic publishers working in these disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis to William Alston's philosophical view on doxastic voluntarism. It delves into Alton's argument on the fallacy of doxastic normativity and evaluates its relevance. It also presents several philosophical responses that defends doxastic voluntarism including Richard Feldman's light-switch counter-example, epistemic decision and voluntary influence.

The article discusses on Rene Descarte's philosophical theory on freedom, truth and goodness. It states that Descarte's idea of freedom is different from the mainstream conceptions, in particular it admits of degrees of higher quality, which are spontaneity, truth and goodness or lower quality, which is indifference, error and sin. It expounded and defended to Descartes' views that goodness and right moral judgments presuppose knowledge of what is true.