Are the ‘gatekeepers’ becoming censors? On editorial processes and the interests of the scholarly community

Questions about the proper role of learned journals and of publishers are brought to the fore in a recent exchange over suggested edits to a book review. William St Clair shares his experience and the review in question and wonders whether some learned journals are becoming afraid to facilitate discussion of academic issues

The Classical Parthenon

Complementing Who Saved the Parthenon? this companion volume sets aside more recent narratives surrounding the Athenian Acropolis, supposedly ‘the very symbol of democracy itself’, instead asking if we can truly access an ancient past imputed with modern meaning. And, if so, how? In this book William St Clair presents a reconstructed understanding of the Parthenon from within the classical Athenian worldview. He explores its role and meaning by weaving together a range of textual and visual sources into two innovative oratorical experiments – a speech in the style of Thucydides and a first-century CE rhetorical exercise – which are used to develop a narrative analysis of the temple structure, revealing a strange story of indigeneity, origins, and empire. The Classical Parthenon offers new answers to old questions, such as the riddle of the Parthenon frieze, and provides a framing device for the wider relationship between visual artefacts, built heritage, and layers of accumulated cultural rhetoric. This groundbreaking and pertinent work will appeal across the disciplines to readers interested in the classics, art history, and the nature of history, while also speaking to a general audience that is interrogating the role of monuments in contemporary society

Analysis of the Workforce and Workplace for Rheumatology, and the Research Activities of Rheumatologists Early in Their Careers

[Excerpt] The scope and scale of clinical research is unknown for any medical or surgical specialty beyond snapshots of the broad aims and expenditures of research programs sponsored by federal agencies or the pharmaceutical industry. As a consequence, the workforce and workplace for clinical investigation is enigmatic and unexamined even after explicit warnings that an essential arm for advancing clinical practice has been disabled. The present study was designed to assess the workforce and workplace for rheumatology, and the extent and type of research prevailing among rheumatologists early in their careers. Our findings provide fresh insights about the workforce and the workplace for rheumatology, and justify interventions to address gaps in both the scope and scale of clinical research in arthritis and rheumatism

The Scope and Scale of Clinical Research Accomplished by Rheumatologists Early in Their Careers

[Excerpt] The scope and scale of clinical research is unknown for any medical or surgical specialty beyond snap shots of the broad aims and expenditures of research programs sponsored by federal agencies or the pharmaceutical industry. As a consequence, the workforce and workplace for clinical investigation is enigmatic and unexamined even after explicit warnings that an essential arm for advancing clinical practice is disabled. The present study was designed to examine the nature and extent of investigative activity prevailing among rheumatologists early in their careers. This assessment provides a lens on: i) the fraction of early career rheumatologists who engage in investigative rheumatology, ii) the scope and scale of research in musculoskeletal diseases, iii) funding available for investigative work, iv) the impact of research-intensive institutions, and NIH-K-series awards on research, and v) the demographic backgrounds of early career rheumatologists. The results provide important new insights about the early career workforce for discovery and innovation in rheumatology. The findings integrate demographic, normative, and predictive data to provide the first estimate of the scope and scale of clinical investigation within rheumatology. The results also justify interventions for promoting investigative work, and ultimately advancing the clinical practice of rheumatology

How To Start a Colony, or Not: Different Models to Colonize Bermuda, Barbados and Tobago

This thesis considers three different and distinct models utilized by the British to colonize the Caribbean islands of Bermuda (1612), Barbados (1627) and Tobago (1763). Much has been written about the development of each one of these islands, yet it appears no study has drawn out and compared the varied development schemes employed by the British in these three instances. Such comparisons are appropriate since, unlike many other areas of British colonization, Bermuda, Barbados and Tobago were not, at the time the British arrived, occupied nor settled by indigenous people or other European settlers. This provided the British an opportunity to devise, develop and implement a settlement scheme that did not have to accommodate existing inhabitants on the islands. Given these blank slates for development, this thesis asks why three different models were utilized instead of one: was the first model not as useful and beneficial as the second and third? Some answers may be accessed by looking at the evolving political and economic climate in London where seventeenth century British adventurers and merchants making the decisions for Bermuda and Barbados eventually became the government bureaucrats calling the shots for the eighteenth century development in Tobago. However, in all three cases, despite the best of intentions and efforts by adventurers and bureaucrats, the resulting settlements did not meet their planners’ expectations. Distance between the colonies and Britain, coupled with the frailties and foibles of those appointed to implement the plans on the islands, thwarted the plans as designed. This leads one to mull over whether the problem was with the various models of colonization, or with the process of colonization itself

The Classical Parthenon

Complementing Who Saved the Parthenon? this companion volume sets aside more recent narratives surrounding the Athenian Acropolis, supposedly ‘the very symbol of democracy itself’, instead asking if we can truly access an ancient past imputed with modern meaning. And, if so, how? In this book William St Clair presents a reconstructed understanding of the Parthenon from within the classical Athenian worldview. He explores its role and meaning by weaving together a range of textual and visual sources into two innovative oratorical experiments – a speech in the style of Thucydides and a first-century CE rhetorical exercise – which are used to develop a narrative analysis of the temple structure, revealing a strange story of indigeneity, origins, and empire. The Classical Parthenon offers new answers to old questions, such as the riddle of the Parthenon frieze, and provides a framing device for the wider relationship between visual artefacts, built heritage, and layers of accumulated cultural rhetoric. This groundbreaking and pertinent work will appeal across the disciplines to readers interested in the classics, art history, and the nature of history, while also speaking to a general audience that is interrogating the role of monuments in contemporary society

That Greece Might Still Be Free

When in 1821, the Greeks rose in violent revolution against the rule of the Ottoman Turks, waves of sympathy spread across Western Europe and the United States. More than a thousand volunteers set out to fight for the cause. The Philhellenes, whether they set out to recreate the Athens of Pericles, start a new crusade, or make money out of a war, all felt that Greece had unique claim on the sympathy of the world. As Lord Byron wrote, "I dreamed that Greece might still be Free"; and he died at Missolonghi trying to translate that dream into reality. William St Clair's meticulously researched and highly readable account of their aspirations and experiences was hailed as definitive when it was first published. Long out of print, it remains the standard account of the Philhellenic movement and essential reading for any students of the Greek War of Independence, Byron, and European Romanticism. Its relevance to more modern ethnic and religious conflicts is becoming increasingly appreciated by scholars worldwide. This revised edition includes a new introduction by Roderick Beaton, an updated bibliography and many new illustrations

\u3cem\u3eToxic Bones\u3c/em\u3e: The Burdens of Discovering Human Remains in West Virginia\u27s Abandoned and Unmarked Graves

This article pulls up and highlights a land use restriction, or financial burden, imposed upon West Virginia private real estate owners who inadvertently uncover human skeletal remains in unmarked graves on their property. In this state, those coming across human bones that historians and archaeologists eventually deem have no historical or archeological significance have a choice—pay the costs to have the bones removed and reinterred or cover the bones and use the property only as a cemetery in perpetuity. This burden becomes more acute when comparing West Virginia’s law to those of other states that require government officials, at public expense, to remove and re-bury discovered bones in a state cemetery set aside for that purpose. This leads one to consider whether West Virginia’s law, as implemented, constitutes a Fifth Amendment “taking” of private property for public use without just compensation, that is, whther the state is imposing upon private property owners a de facto cemetery for the remains of unknown and insignificant persons. It may be helpful to point out what this Article is not about. This Article does not address bones located in marked and designated burial sites, such as established cemeteries. It also does not take up the uncovering of Native American remains, or for that matter, any other remains that the scientific and cultural communities ultimately determine are historically or archeologically significant. Rather, this Article focuses on the inadvertent discovery of the bones of people who, through the passage of time, have been forgotten or abandoned, and who historians and archaeologists deem unremarkable

Using Quality Improvement To Implement Substance Use Disorders Services In Primary Health Care In Kenya: Impact And Experiences Of A Blended Course Among Health Workers Using The NextGenU Online Model

Background: Worldwide, mental and substance use disorders (SUD) account for over 183.9 million disability adjusted life years. While interventions do exist they are not readily implemented, especially in low- and middle-income countries, due to a lack of available human resources, monetary resources, stigma, and difficulties in changing practice patterns. Quality Improvement (QI) has been reported in literature to successfully improve health services and systems through small-scale, iterative change cycles. Objectives: This study assessed the impact of the NextGenU.org online blended course in terms of integrating, improving and sustaining mental health services using quality improvement methods in primary health care in Kenya. It also analyzed the experience of participants who completed the NextGenU.org online blended course. Method: A mixed-methods study was conducted, incorporating both qualitative focus groups (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII), and quantitative statistical measures. Data came from the Computer-Based and Alcohol Training Assessment in Kenya (eDATA K), which was implemented in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC) and African Mental Health Foundation (AMHF). FGDs and KIIs were analyzed using NVivo through a constant-comparison method, to identify themes emerging from the data. A second coder analyzed the data to ensure reliability and validity. Quantitative analysis was conducted to analyze the course completion rates. Additionally, the researcher incorporated their own notes from observations made during fieldwork over the course of a 12-week practicum with AMHF to triangulate the results. Results: Overall, 27 screeners and clinicians completed the NextGenU.org online blended course. There were two FGDS and two KIIs conducted in Makueni county during July - September 2015. In terms of the staff’s experience in completing the online course many participants noted strong facilitators such as: the certificates, desire for knowledge, personal motivations, relevant material, and case studies. The limited amount of space, computers, and restrictions on Internet access acted as barriers. Participants perceived their knowledge of QI methods, leadership, and time management to have increased from completing the course. Perceived self-efficacy also increased, as staff believed their ability to be a leader, manage time and deal with errors and mistakes within the workplace improved. There was also a positive shift in stigma associated with SUD. Most importantly, the integration and improvement in mental health services was maintained even though staff discussed common challenges, such as heavy workload and limited time. Some participants reported that some people in management roles should have been more supportive, as their limited involvement acts as a barrier to greater integration of services, while other where thankful of the management support. Conclusion: This is one of the first studies of using QI methods to integrate, improve and sustain mental health services in the primary health care system in Kenya. Based upon the experiences described in the FGDs and KIIs, the blended online course was perceived to be acceptable, feasible and successful. The results indicate that quality improvement continues to be integrated in Makueni overall improving mental health services