This article presents an interview with Gary Olson on the changing contexts of the humanities in this modern world. He emphasizes that the humanities are absolutely essential when it comes to the very real-world problems. He explains that what he is saying not just applies to terrorism and economic crisis; the humanities equip everyone to deal…

In all societies, boys and girls are assigned different societal roles and experience different perspectives of life as a result of their being male or female. Such differences have a gigantic impact on their lives. The importance of gender perspective is very important in understanding the convolution of child labour. Gender, as opposed to sex,…

The concepts of "access" and "relevance" feature prominently in the discourse of change in mathematics education in South Africa. One way in which these concepts have been played out in mathematics classrooms is in the use of mathematical problems with real-world contexts. This paper presents a Critical Discourse Analysis of…

Professors and politics blend uneasily in the classroom, especially in an election year. As the election cycle unfolds, professors can expect to be asked about their political views: "How do you feel about McCain?" "Do you think we're ready for a black president?" Nothing in higher-education policy explicitly precludes honest answers to those…

Sixteen papers on the general theme of the "place" of psychology, particularly in higher education, arose from the author's paper "Psychology in its place." Several themes emerge from the disparate contributions. The author discusses two papers which directly comment on his original one, the papers of John Newland and Tom…

This article describes how Bruce Hoffman and Marc Sageman, two prominent scholars of terrorism, square off over whether Al Qaeda remains the primary global terrorist threat. The dispute began in the pages of "Foreign Affairs," where Hoffman, a professor in the security-studies program at Georgetown University, wrote a withering review of…

A world policy agenda for gender equality in education now exists, realising the idea of earlier reformers such as Kartini. This agenda, however, makes assumptions that are strongly contested by research and policy debates in national forums. This essay urges shifting the framework of gender analysis to global scale. It outlines what is involved…

In this study, we explore the global effect of the Internet on democracy over the period of 1992 to 2002 by observing the relationships between measures related to democracy and Internet prevalence. Our findings suggest that while Internet usage was not a very powerful predictor of democracy when examining full panel data from 1992 to 2002, it was…

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, this edition of "The State of the World's Children" calls for brave and fresh thinking to address age-old problems that still affect the world's most disadvantaged children. The report is inspired by the work of innovators around the world--who are pushing…

The world passed the halfway point of oil supply in 2005. World demand for oil likely will severely outstrip supply in 2008, leading to increasingly higher oil prices. Consequences are likely to include increasing gasoline prices, rapidly increasing inflation, and subsequently a series of increasingly severe recessions followed by a worldwide…

As the authors began to think about this issue's Peace Education/Conflict Resolution column, they realized that their network has been going for 10 years. Their goal has been to bring together professionals in their field to learn from one another and carry the wisdom of each other into their practice on behalf of a more peaceful world. Hearing…

Life, as it has evolved over thousands of years, is a fantastic miracle. Since 1945 humans have built nuclear weapons so effectively that the release of them now would eradicate human life several times over. This annihilation potential makes life seem precious. Hard questions which must be asked are listed. (RM)

An account of library devastation during the Nigerian Civil War. (Author)

In times of world crisis, home gardens can become a precious resource. Discussed are: corporate and government gardens; gardens of necessity; threats to the food supply; and a new kind of soil bank. Resource organizations are listed. (NW)