In Chris Barker's sequel to Cultural Studies, the author addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the discipline and investigates its practical and academic boundaries. The author also clarifies its underlying themes of study.

This volume claims that interdisciplinarity and translation constitute the two main 'challenges' for cultural studies today. These conceptual issues ('inter' and 'trans') express themselves within specific historical and 'cultural' contexts. Interdisciplinarity is linked with the ongoing process of the institutionalisation of cultural studies in national academies, but also increasingly internationally, comparatively and to a certain extent even globally (cf. cultural studies of 'global culture'). Translation concerns cultural studies both as an object or product and as a subject or producer of translation processes. Cultural studies is the result of translation, translates and is being translated. The essays in this volume therefore relate these various ongoing cultural, linguistic and institutional translation processes to political and ethical issues of internationalisation and globalisation. The contributions draw their originality and strength from strategically crossing, disciplinary and national boundaries. They deliberately ignore the question of what may be 'proper' (to) cultural studies, and instead problematise the notions of 'propriety' and 'belonging'. As a 'reading practice' cultural studies, in these pages, is performed through adaptations and combinations of theory and critical practice. The volume should be of interest to everyone concerned with cultural studies' role in promoting intellectual debate within an increasingly international and 'globalised' public sphere.

Mother-Scholar presents another way of knowing. The book illuminates the narratives of prominent mother-scholars in the discipline of education who are determined to (re)imagine a different educational space not only for their own children, but for all children. Today’s schools are male-centered institutions in which standardized testing, rational mind, and emotionless space prevent children from realizing their full potential as creative, intelligent and soulful beings. Mother-scholars in the discipline of education assert that when motherhood and intellect confront and inform each other, a new thinking emerges to capture the possibility of humanizing education beyond the private relationships between mothers and children.

The study of popular culture has come of age, and is now an area of central concern for the well-established domain of cultural studies. In a context where research in popular culture has become closely intertwined with current debates within cultural studies, this volume provides a selection of recent insights into the study of the popular from cultural studies perspectives. Dealing with issues concerning representation, cultural production and consumption or identity construction, this anthology includes chapters analysing a range of genres, from film, television, fiction, drama and print media to painting, in various contexts through a number of cultural studies-oriented theoretical and methodological orientations. The contributions here specifically focus on a wide variety of issues ranging from the ideological construction of identities in print media to the narratives of the postmodern condition in film and fiction, through investigations into youth, the dialogue between the canon and the popular in Shakespeare, and the so-called topographies of the popular in spatial and visual representation. In exploring the interface between cultural studies and popular culture through a number of significant case studies, this volume will be of interest not only within the fields of cultural studies, but also within media and communication studies, film studies, and gender studies, among others.

Women between Submission and Freedom is a cultural, historical, and spiritual inquiry into the nature of contemporary Eastern and Western society which highlights the gender inequality plaguing contemporary Arabian culture. The author has witnessed first-hand the role of cultural influences in her religion and society. Her analysis begins with personal stories and everyday instances of misogynistic behavior suffered by herself and those around her. The author delivers an important message about the deception and brainwashing of women in these communities. She bears witness to a culture which has taught women to be submissive and accept the fact that their societal value only exists in relation and deference to men. Whether through direct or indirect pressure, such communities reduce the innate human value of women, at the same time as the patriarchal system reduces them to virtual slavery. This systematic denigration includes not only the misogynistic mentality, but the historical suppression of women’s ideas and creations. The author explores the portrayal of women in a range of religions that employ gender-based social intimidation under the cloak of religion. The interpretation of these verses is based on the societal values and politics of those who lead and protect the patriarchal system. To them, religion is not an ethos, but a weapon.

Educational research is not what it was fifteen years ago. In this discipline the changes have been dramatic, far-reaching and rapid. Out of the criticisms of the 1990s and the calls for greater accountability of the early 2000s one idea has come to the fore—education science. There are two main components to education science. The first is the principle that research in education must model itself more closely on disciplines seen as highly credible and successful, mainly the natural sciences and medicine. The second part is that educators must build their practice upon the insights developed through this scientific research process. Overall, education science has the potential to change how we think about education, how we build knowledge about it, and how we know when it is successful. This volume brings together some of the most active proponents of education science and some of the most committed critics. Within it the idea of education science is explored in depth, randomized controlled trials (considered the “gold standard” of education science) are discussed in detail, and the philosophical difficulties of knowledge in education are explored. Established thinkers are brought alongside newly emerging analysts, and detailed accounts of the institutions driving education science are included. Each contribution is thoughtful and balanced, engaging with the issues of the field and how they might be addressed. As a body of work, this collection of essays provides a well-rounded, critical discussion of the potential—and the problems—of the education science movement.

This is a book about sociology of education—past, present and future.

Research shows that the ability to "read others" or to make sense of the signs and symbols evident in human communication has an influence on children's self-conceptions and their social interactions in childhood and adolescence. Given that psychological explanations play a key role in teaching and learning, further research is required, particularly on adolescents within the school context. This book investigates which aspects of these discourse experiences foster the growth of understanding of spirit, emotion, and mind in adolescence. Accordingly, from a co-relational approach to the development of understanding mind and education, this book builds on past and current research by investigating the social and emotional antecedents and consequences of psychological understanding in early adolescence. Specifically, this book explores the question: How do adolescents use their ability to understand other minds to navigate their relationships with themselves and their peers within the culture of ambiguity? To address this question, this book critically examines research on adolescents’ ability to understand mind, emotion, and spirit, and how they use this ability to help them navigate their relationships within the school setting. This book might appeal to a variety of educators and researchers, ranging from early childhood educators/researchers to university professors specializing in socioemotional and spiritual/moral worlds of adolescents. Sandra Leanne Bosacki completed her PhD in Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Canada. Currently an Associate Professor in the Graduate and Undergraduate Department of Education at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, she teaches graduate courses in Developmental Educational Psychology and Educational Research. Her teaching and research interests include sociocognitive, emotional, moral, and spiritual development within diverse cultural and educational contexts. She is a contributing associate editor of the International Journal of Children’s Spirituality and is the author books The Culture of Classroom Silence and the Emotional Lives of Children (2005; 2008, Peter Lang). She has published research papers in the Journal of Educational Psychology, the Journal of Early Adolescence, Social Development, and Gender Roles: A Journal of Research. She currently resides in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Looking Back and Living Forward: Indigenous Research Rising Up brings together research from a diverse group of scholars from a variety of disciplines. The work shared in this book is done by and with Indigenous peoples, from across Canada and around the world. Together, the collaborators’ voices resonate with urgency and insights towards resistance and resurgence. The various chapters address historical legacies, environmental concerns, community needs, wisdom teachings, legal issues, personal journeys, educational implications, and more. In these offerings, the contributors share the findings from their literature surveys, document analyses, community-based projects, self-studies, and work with knowledge keepers and elders. The scholarship draws on the teachings of the past, experiences of the present, and will undoubtedly inform research to come.

The modern American university has, for more than a century, been the frontier where those who aspired to social and economic advancement ventured. Initially, the guides for the aspirants were the professors, who having earned the trust of both the general public and practitioners, provided the necessary foundation for entry into the profession.