Cultural & Area Studies, Education, Humanities & Social Sciences

The Impact of AI on the Environment, Culture, and Education

Education and public policy experts weigh in on the educational, cultural, and environmental implications of AI, putting emphasis on Indigenous knowledge, data sovereignty, and cultural integrity.
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Cultural & Area Studies, Education

The Importance of Interdisciplinarity: Insights from The Forum at the 2025 IAFOR Conferences in London

At the ECE/ECAH/EGen2025 in Paris, international delegates discuss potential collaborative solutions to overcoming the challenges and problems in cultivating a culture of interdisciplinarity in the academe.
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Cultural & Area Studies, History

Cultural Diplomacy and Education for Peace

In their panel discussion, moderator Ambassador Paolo Sabbatini and esteemed experts from institutions such as UNESCO, University of Bristol, and Sciences Po highlight how soft power—rooted in dialogue, academia, and cultural cooperation—remains essential to sustaining multilateralism and mutual understanding in an age of geopolitical tension.
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Cultural & Area Studies, Humanities & Social Sciences

Cultural Heritage as a Unifying Force: The Example of Notre-Dame

A product of its local culture and history, cultural heritage that has endured across generations not only reflects local identity and values that produced it but also holds something sacred that resonates with people globally.
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Cultural & Area Studies

Cooperating in Difficult Times: Making Interdisciplinarity Work

The IAFOR Online Forum moved beyond a simplistic definition of collaboration and interdisciplinarity to deeply explore its practical implementation, inherent challenges, and benefits. The key takeaways from the discussion are starting small, knowing your goals, building on mutual respect, self-awareness, focus and confidence building.
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Cultural & Area Studies

The Need for both Proactive and Responsive Facilitation in Addressing the Rural / Urban Divide in the United States

Angus McGregor, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, considers Thomas Jefferson’s thinking about rural economies in the United States. He concludes the need for a revolution of progressive rural development addressing income and political gaps between rural and urban communities, thus moving the United States closer to Jefferson’s hope; a nation committed to a democratization of prosperity.
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Cultural & Area Studies

New Approaches to the “Golden Age” of British Television Comedy

Daniel Reast, from the University of Portsmouth, UK, looks back at the development of British television comedy after the Second World War. He reflects on the way that the best comedy responds to the social, political, and cultural situations occurring around the programme.
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Svetlana-Ter_Minasova-My-Moscow-photo-collage
Cultural & Area Studies, History

My Moscow

Professor Svetlana Ter-Minasova tells the story of her life in Moscow, which she calls “a lucky life”. She documents her family history and shares her earliest memories from 1941, her wartime experiences, and her path to the present as President of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
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Camilla Bundgaard Big Ben Sarah Kelley
Cultural & Area Studies, Media, Film & Journalism

The Power That Lies Within: Ideologies in Daniel Craig’s Bond Films

Sarah Kelley of the University of Bristol, UK, maps some of the ideas and themes conveyed in Craig’s Bond films to possible influences from their socio-political contexts, with a particular focus on Skyfall and Spectre.
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Amanda Third Child Rights, Digital Issues and Cyber Safety IAFOR
Cultural & Area Studies, Technology

Amanda Third: Child Rights, Digital Issues and Cyber Safety

Dr Amanda Third sheds light on her research into the impact new technologies are having on children, discussing the challenges societies face as children are exposed to these technologies.
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The House of Wisdom Interdisciplinarity in the Golden Age of the Arabic Empire Suzi Elhafez Jorg Reuter
Cultural & Area Studies, History, The Arts & Literature

The House of Wisdom: Interdisciplinarity in the Golden Age of the Arab-Islamic Empire

Suzi Elhafez examines the efficacy of interdisciplinarity in the Golden Age of the Arab-Islamic Empire in informing approaches to multimodal art practices and expanding knowledge domains within a contemporary context.
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Cultural & Area Studies, The Arts & Literature

Psychedelics and the Secret Door to Perception

Mongia Besbes discusses psychedelic substances and their influence on literature and popular culture, with a particular focus on the work of US authors of the Beat Generation.
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China's Wealth and Happiness Paradox Matthew Monnot
Business & Economics, Cultural & Area Studies, Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences

The Goods Life: China’s Wealth and Happiness Paradox

Dr Matthew J. Monnot of the University of San Francisco discusses the contrast between decades of GDP growth in China and stagnant levels of individual life and job satisfaction.
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Black Madonna Anna Hamling Miguel Palafox
Cultural & Area Studies, History, The Arts & Literature

The Power of an Image: The Black Madonna of Częstochowa

Dr Anna Hamling of the University of New Brunswick, Canada, examines the historical and cultural significance of religious icon the Black Madonna of Częstochowa to the people of Poland.
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Public Image, Private Lives Bondage and Discipline Angela Wilson
Cultural & Area Studies

Public Images, Private Lives: Professional Bondage and Discipline

Angela Wilson analyses newspaper advertisements for specialised bondage and discipline services to compare them with other newspaper advertising, to comment on public perception of this industry, and to examine the blurring of truth and fantasy by service providers and their clients.
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Kevin Burkett Irish Immigrants Boys From Vepery Ian Michael
Cultural & Area Studies, History, Media, Film & Journalism

Boys from Vepery: John Footman’s Journey from the Ravages of “Gorta Mór”

Ireland’s Great Famine, “Gorta Mór”, had far-reaching effects for the Irish population in the mid-nineteenth century, leading millions to migrate in search of a better future. As part of a documentary film project, Dr Ian Michael, Fokiya Akhtar and Dr Michael R. Ogden explore the journey made by Dr Michael’s own ancestor, John Footman, from rural Cork to Madras, India.
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Falklands Calling Andrea Bellot
Cultural & Area Studies, Politics, International Relations & Law

“Falklands Calling”: The Local Community in Terms of Global Interaction

How has the way the Falkland Islanders see themselves and interact with the rest of the world evolved after, and as a result of, the 1982 war? Dr Andrea Bellot examines how islanders have experienced a transition from a small and isolated community to a more connected society.

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Damballah_La_Flambeau_Hector_Hyppolite André Breton Surrealism: A Global Cultural Movement with Local Political Agency
Cultural & Area Studies, History, Politics, International Relations & Law, The Arts & Literature

Surrealism: A Global Cultural Movement with Local Political Agency

Lauren Walden of Coventry University explores the impact of the surrealist movement on the local politics of Haiti, Martinique and Mexico through the diplomatic role played by André Breton, the founder of surrealism.
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Professor Svetlana Ter-Minasova, President of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Cultural & Area Studies, Language Learning

Language, Culture and National Security

Professor Svetlana Ter-Minasova gives an insight into the dangers created by language and culture in the fields of native and foreign language acquisition and translation.
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Sino-Japanese Relations
Cultural & Area Studies, Politics, International Relations & Law

Mutual Distrust between China and Japan and the Locked Sino-Japanese Relations

Bilateral relations between China and Japan have historically been positive, yet the two countries have formed a situation of mutual distrust regarding both strategic and moral issues. Shi Chen discusses the reasons for the “locked” status of Sino-Japanese relations.

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Reportage drawing by Louis Netter of the University of Portsmouth. Image Copyright © Louis Netter 2016. All rights reserved.
Cultural & Area Studies, Media, Film & Journalism

The Serendipitous City: Reportage Drawing, Visual Language and Discovery

Artist and illustrator Louis Netter of the University of Portsmouth, UK, explores links between reportage and caricature and describes his selection and “stalking” of the subject, to accompany his series of reportage drawings from the streets of Barcelona.
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chinatown-chinesca-china-iafor-think
Cultural & Area Studies, Humanities & Social Sciences

La Chinesca: A Chinese Community in the Mexico-US Borderlands

Chinese settlements on the border between California and Mexico date back over 100 years and their legacy can still be felt today. Scott Warren, Donna Ruiz E Costello and Wan Yu explore the impact of Chinese immigration to the region, in the context of the ‘hopeful geography’ of Bajalta California.
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Funeral hearse - Japans modern death system - THINK - IAFOR
Cultural & Area Studies, Ethics, Religion & Philosophy

Japan’s Modern Ritualized Death System (20/20)

In the final part of Professor Stuart D. B. Picken’s “Death in the Japanese Tradition” monograph, he explains how Japan’s death system has been developed far beyond that of any Western civilisation, serving the needs of social control, nationalism and militarism, as well as the preservation of the family and the maintenance of the stability of Japanese society.

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Emperor_Showa THINK IAFOR 2
Cultural & Area Studies, History

The Death and Burial of Emperor Showa (19/20)

In the penultimate Part 19 of his “Death in the Japanese Tradition” monograph, Professor Stuart D. B. Picken explains why the events preceding Emperor Showa’s passing away, and the rituals thereafter, created wide-ranging debate in Japanese society.
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