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Culture + Society – Articles, Analysis, Comment

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Trump is seen in the Oval Office in early January 2020. Viewing him as a cult leader and his supporters as cult followers doesn’t help us understand why he appeals to some voters. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Why it’s wrong to refer to the ‘cult of Trump’

There are many legitimate ways to critique Donald Trump, but demonizing his voters as cult followers doesn’t help us understand why they are attracted to him and how their world view has developed.
Portrait of Edmond Belamy, 2018, created by GAN (Generative Adversarial Network), sold for US$432,500 on Oct. 25, 2019, at Christie’s in New York. (Obvious)

The price of AI art: Has the bubble burst?

Last fall, a piece of art work created by AI to resemble 18th century classical western art sold for almost half a million dollars. But the second in the series sold for much less.
Indian students of Jamia Millia Islamia University shout slogans as they march during a protest, in New Delhi, India, Dec. 18, 2019. AP Photo/Altaf Qadri

Why is Indian Prime Minister Modi attacking student protesters?

Indian student protests suggest Indian universities have successfully educated youth to participate and lead in public life. For exercising this right, students have been beaten and detained.
Finding meaning in their work is a new goal for employees, along with well-being and happiness. It’s an objective for companies as well. Shutterstock

Everyone wants meaning in their work — but how do you define it?

The search for meaning in their work is inevitable for employees seeking job satisfaction. Defining that meaning, however, can mean different things for different people.
The keeper of hundreds of Kwakwaka’wakw songs, Kwaksistalla Wathl’thla (Clan Chief Adam Dick), chanting at a feast (qui’las) with Mayanilh (Dr. Daisy Sewid-Smith). (Bert Crowfoot)

Indigenous song keepers reveal traditional ecological knowledge in music

Ancestral Indigenous songs often encode territorial responsibilities and rights, such as in relationship with ‘lokiwey’ (coastal clam gardens) on the Pacific Northwest Coast.
Individuals who upload their DNA test results to databases may not have much control over how it’s used. (Shutterstock)

DNA database sold to help law-enforcement crack cold cases

Can the new owner of GEDmatch ,a genealogy database preserve its original purpose while allowing a seamless service to law enforcement?
Protests have engulfed Assam since the National Register of Citizens was published in August 2019. They have intensified since the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by the parliament. Central security forces, pictured here, have been sent in to repress the spontaneous protests by different citizens groups. (Arunabh Saikia)

New laws weaponize citizenship in India

India has been working to expel or repress Muslim minorities. Nearly two million residents of India’s eastern state of Assam are at risk of losing citizenship.
An image from the book cover for ‘SLAY,’ one of the top 2019 five books for young critical thinkers. (Simon and Schuster)

5 great reads for young critical thinkers

A list of 5 great reads for young critical thinkers and the adults in their lives — in time for holiday gift-giving.
Beyoncé arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating “China: Through the Looking Glass” on May 4, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

10 years of Beyoncé: A decade ‘causing all this conversation’

From a quiet start to cultural dominance, Beyoncé’s work over the last decade is groundbreaking. But it is also filled with questions and contradictions.
Participants at the Montréal Pride Celebrations a decade ago. Researchers say there is an overemphasis on muscular and ‘masculine’ bodies in gay communities. Shutterstock

10-year Challenge reveals femmephobia in gay communities

For many gay men, social media and dating apps are hotbeds of body image struggles and rising toxic masculinity – the recent ‘10-year-challenge’ on Instagram showcases this femmephobia.
A picture taken in the late 1970s shows a group of refugees (162 persons) who arrived on a small boat which sank a few meters from the shore in Malaysia. UNHCR/K. Gaugler

The story behind the world’s first private refugee sponsorship program

Forty years ago, the Canadian government applied its new program for private sponsorship of refugees allowing Canada to welcome the largest number of Southeast Asian refugees in the world.
The new sign commemorating the anniversary of the 1989 École Polytechnique shooting now recognizes that it was an attack against women and feminists. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

The Montréal Massacre is finally recognized as an anti-feminist attack

Thirty years after the Montreal Massacre that killed 14 women, new threats such as the incel movement pose dangers to the feminist movement.
Canadian statistics reveal that a woman is killed every five days by an intimate partner or a family member. This picture represents women killed from Jan. 1 to Nov 30, 2019. Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability

Remembering everyday violence against women and girls on Dec. 6

While we remember the women murdered 30 years ago, we shouldn’t ignore those short, terse paragraphs in the news that describe the everyday, routine violence inflicted upon women.
A Palestinian protester throws a Molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops during demonstrations against the Israeli offensive on Gaza in November 2019. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

What constitutes fair and unfair criticism of Israel?

There’s little hope as we head into 2020 that Israel will negotiate in good faith with Palestinian leaders. Yet Israel will never be safe from attack until it does so.
A sign and stuffed animal lay at the entrance to Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School ahead of a vigil for murdered 14-year-old Devan Bracci-Selvey, at his high school in Hamilton, Ont., in October 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Cole Burston

Bullying won’t be curbed until we figure out what fuels it

A truly new approach to combating bullying would investigate the factors that make bullying attractive, rewarding and legitimized in the first place, both in schools and beyond.