The Dawkins effect? Celebrity scientists, (non)religious publics and changed attitudes to evolution

The role of science popularization remains relatively under-explored in research on contemporary public acceptance of evolution. In this study, we analyse national survey data to interrogate the role Britain's best-known celebrity scientists David Attenborough, Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking may have played in changing public views of evolution, as well as the role of two creationists: Ken Ham and Harun Yahya. We investigate how well known these public figures are, what their views of religion are perceived to be and, drawing on social identity theory, whether they exert different effects on attitudinal change to evolution among different religious and non-religious publics. Binary logistic regression analysis shows that among Muslim and Pentecostal Christian publics, those familiar with Dawkins as both a scientist and as someone who holds negative views of religion are more likely to have become less accepting of evolution. Conversely, among non-religious publics, Dawkins was the only celebrity scientist associated with higher odds of becoming more accepting of evolution. We suggest that engaging certain religious audiences with the science of evolutionary biology may be more effective when their religious identities are not threatened

Evangelicals, Evolution and Inerrancy: a comparative study of congregational boundary work

A number of evangelical Christian denominations and networks uphold a specific doctrine of Scripture, stating that the Bible is the ‘inerrant’ word of God. Those who adhere to biblical inerrancy tend to reject literary interpretations of the creation accounts in the Bible and therefore to reject evolutionary theory. Indeed, evolution rejection frequently functions as a key boundary for biblical inerrantists that must be strictly maintained. In this comparative study, we analyse interview data and other materials to uncover the mechanisms by which evolution rejection as a boundary is strengthened, maintained or weakened within two evangelical church congregations that adhere to biblical inerrancy: one in London, UK, the other in Texas, US. We find significant differences in boundary work between the two congregations and consider how the interplay of three factors—1) orientation of the congregation (internal or external), 2) religious context (minority or majority), 3) boundary salience—may lead to boundary strengthening or weakening

Multimodal literacy

Multimodal literacy is a term that originates in social semiotics, and refers to the study of language that combines two or more modes of meaning. The related term, multimodality, refers to the constitution of multiple modes in semiosis or meaning making. Modes are defined differently across schools of thought, and the classification of modes is somewhat contested. However, from a social semiotic approach, modes are the socially and culturally shaped resources or semiotic structure for making meaning. Specific examples of modes from a social semiotic perspective include speech, gesture, written language, music, mathematical notation, drawings, photographic images, or moving digital images. Language and literacy practices have always been multimodal, because communication requires attending to diverse kinds of meanings, whether of spoken or written words, visual images, gestures, posture, movement, sound, or silence. Yet, undeniably, the affordances of people-driven digital media and textual production have given rise to an exponential increase in the circulation of multimodal texts in networked digital environments. Multimodal text production has become a central part of everyday life for many people throughout the life course, and across cultures and societies. This has been enabled by the ease of producing and sharing digital images, music, video games, apps, and other digital media via the Internet and mobile technologies. The increasing significance of multimodal literacy for communication has led to a growing body of research and theory to address the differing potentials of modes and their intermodality for making meaning. The study of multimodal literacy learning in schools and society is an emergent field of research, which begins with the important recognition that reading and writing are rarely practiced as discrete skills, but are intimately connected to the use of multimodal texts, often in digital contexts of use. The implications of multimodal literacy for pedagogy, curriculum, and assessment in education is an expanding field of multimodal research. In addition, there is a growing attention to multimodal literacy practices that are practiced in informal social contexts, from early childhood to adolescence and adulthood, such as in homes, recreational sites, communities, and workplaces

The multimodal construction of race : A review of critical race theory research

Issues of race periodically rupture in the national and internationalconsciousness, while at other times, there is a false belief thatsociety has arrived at a post-racial era. Either way, there remainsimpetus for the critical interrogation of the racialisation ofmultimodal literacies in education, and critical race theory (CRT) is aleading approach. This article reviews original studies thatcollectively analyse multimodal texts and practices to understandthe construction of race in education. Multimodal texts haveproliferated in online textual ecologies due to the ease ofproduction and rapid global dissemination of image-based texts inthe twenty-first century. Such texts combine two or more modes,such as images, words, sounds, and gestures. Sites for thecirculation of multimodal literacies–online and offline–serve todisrupt, reify, or perhaps even exacerbate racial identities, prejudice,and subordination in education. The review highlights the prevalentthemes: (a) Discursive construction of race in the spoken mode, (b)Anti-racist and multimodal counter-narratives, (c) The racialisationof multimodal literature for children and adolescents, and (d) Racein music, visual and performing arts, and digital media. Gaps in CRTresearch and challenges are posed for future research of race in thecontext of cultural and technological change

Sensory literacies, the body, and digital media

This chapter suggests that what is needed in current understandings of literacy practices is systematic attention to the role of the full sensorium evoked in the process of meaning making. Of particular interest is the hitherto neglected realm of the nonvisual senses and their role in children's literacy learning. The chapter demonstrates how the sensorial engagement of the body is intertwined in meaning making with different material presentations of digital and print copies of a picture book and in handwriting and process drama lessons. The e-book version of the Heart and the Bottle and process drama activities that draw on Beware of the Bears invite the reader to participate with the body in sense-making through haptic affordances that open up a rich set of possibilities for vicarious sensory engagement with the feelings and perspectives of the characters

Sensory literacies, the body, and digital media

This chapter suggests that what is needed in current understandings of literacy practices is systematic attention to the role of the full sensorium evoked in the process of meaning making. Of particular interest is the hitherto neglected realm of the nonvisual senses and their role in children's literacy learning. The chapter demonstrates how the sensorial engagement of the body is intertwined in meaning making with different material presentations of digital and print copies of a picture book and in handwriting and process drama lessons. The e-book version of the Heart and the Bottle and process drama activities that draw on Beware of the Bears invite the reader to participate with the body in sense-making through haptic affordances that open up a rich set of possibilities for vicarious sensory engagement with the feelings and perspectives of the characters

Literacy for digital futures : Mind, body, text

The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied, multimodal, and digitally mediated. In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers, scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new interdisciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for next-generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implications for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and professional practice

Cobimetinib and trametinib inhibit platelet MEK but do not cause platelet dysfunction

The MEK inhibitors cobimetinib and trametinib are used in combination with BRAF inhibitors to treat metastatic melanoma but increase rates of hemorrhage relative to BRAF inhibitors alone. Platelets express several members of the MAPK signalling cascade including MEK1 and MEK2 and ERK1 and ERK2 but their role in platelet function and haemostasis is ambiguous as previous reports have been contradictory. It is therefore unclear if MEK inhibitors might be causing platelet dysfunction and contributing to increased hemorrhage. In the present study we performed pharmacological characterisation of cobimetinib and trametinib in vitro to investigate potential for MEK inhibitors to cause platelet dysfunction. We report that whilst both cobimetinib and trametinib are potent inhibitors of platelet MEK activity, treatment with trametinib did not alter platelet function. Treatment with cobimetinib results in inhibition of platelet aggregation, integrin activation, alpha-granule secretion and adhesion but only at suprapharmacological concentrations. We identified that the inhibitory effects of high concentrations of cobimetinib are associated with off-target inhibition on Akt and PKC. Neither inhibitor caused any alteration in thrombus formation on collagen under flow conditions in vitro. Our findings demonstrate that platelets are able to function normally when MEK activity is fully inhibited, indicating MEK activity is dispensable for normal platelet function. We conclude that the MEK inhibitors cobimetinib and trametinib do not induce platelet dysfunction and are therefore unlikely to contribute to increased incidence of bleeding reported during MEK inhibitor therapy