The Schumann resonances (SR) are a set of spectrum peaks in the extremely low frequency (ELF) portion of the Earth's electromagnetic field spectrum. Schumann resonances are global electromagnetic resonances, excited by lightning discharges in the cavity formed by the Earth surface and the ionosphere.
This global electromagnetic resonance phenomenon is named after physicist Winfried Otto Schumann who predicted it mathematically in 1952. Schumann resonances occur because the space between the surface of the Earth and the conductive ionosphere acts as a closed waveguide. The limited dimensions of the Earth cause this waveguide to act as a resonant cavity for electromagnetic waves in the ELF band. The cavity is naturally excited by electric currents in lightning. Schumann resonances are the principal background in the electromagnetic spectrum between 3-69 Hz, and appear as distinct peaks at extremely low frequencies (ELF) around 7.83, 14.3, 20.8, 27.3 and 33.8 Hz.
In the normal mode descriptions of Schumann resonances, the fundamental mode is a standing wave in the Earth-ionosphere cavity with a wavelength equal to the circumference of the Earth. This lowest-frequency (and highest-intensity) mode of the Schumann resonance occurs at a frequency of approximately 7.83 Hz, but this frequency can vary slightly from a variety of factors, such as solar-induced perturbations to the ionosphere, which comprises the upper wall of the closed cavity. The higher resonance modes are spaced at approximately 6.5 Hz intervals, a characteristic attributed to the atmosphere's spherical geometry. The peaks exhibit a spectral width of approximately 20% on account of the damping of the respective modes in the dissipative cavity. The eighth overtone lies at approximately 59.9 Hz.
Observations of Schumann resonances have been used to track global lightning activity. Owing to the connection between lightning activity and the Earth's climate it has been suggested that they may also be used to monitor global temperature variations and variations of water vapor in the upper troposphere. It has been speculated that extraterrestrial lightning (on other planets) may also be detected and studied by means of their Schumann resonance signatures.
Schumann resonances have been used to study the lower ionosphere on Earth and it has been suggested as one way to explore the lower ionosphere on celestial bodies. Effects on Schumann resonances have been reported following geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances. More recently, discrete Schumann resonance excitations have been linked to transient luminous events - sprites, elves, jets, and other upper-atmospheric lightning. A new field of interest using Schumann resonances is related to short-term earthquake prediction.
How the Human Body Is Affected by the Cosmic Environment Epoch Times - July 6, 2015
Environmental variables, such as cosmic rays, solar activity, and electromagnetic waves in the Earth's atmosphere, may account for about 2-8 percent of heart rate variability. Cosmic rays have interested scientists for many different reasons. They come from all directions in space, and the origination of many of these cosmic rays is unknown. NASA's website explains Schumann resonances: There is a 'cavity' defined by the surface of the Earth and the inner edge of the ionosphere 55 kilometers [34 miles] up. ... The Schumann resonances are quasi standing wave electromagnetic waves that exist in this cavity. Like waves on a spring, they are not present all the time, but have to be 'excited' to be observed. They are not caused by anything internal to the Earth, its crust or its core. They seem to be related to electrical activity in the atmosphere, particularly during times of intense lightning activity.
The first suggestion that an ionosphere existed, capable of trapping electromagnetic waves, was made by Heaviside and Kennelly in 1902. It took another twenty years before Edward Appleton and Barnett in 1925, were able to prove experimentally the existence of the ionosphere.
However, even prior to this, the first documented observations of global electromagnetic resonance, was at the Colorado Springs laboratory of Nikola Tesla in 1899. This observation led to certain peculiar conclusions about the electrical properties of the earth, and which made the basis for his scheme for wireless energy transmission.
Although some of the most important mathematical tools for dealing with spherical waveguides were developed by Watson in 1918, it was Winfried Otto Schumann who first studied the theoretical aspects of the global resonances of the earth-ionosphere waveguide system, known today as the Schumann resonances.
In 1952-1954 Schumann, together with Konig, attempted to measure the resonant frequencies. However, it was not until measurements made by Balser and Wagner in 1960-1963that adequate analysis techniques were available to extract the resonance information from the background noise. Since then there has been an increasing interest in Schumann resonances in a wide variety of fields.
Tesla researched ways to transmit power and energy wirelessly over long distances (via transverse waves, to a lesser extent, and, more readily, longitudinal waves). He transmitted extremely low frequencies through the ground as well as between the Earth's surface and the Kennelly-Heaviside layer. He received patents on wireless transceivers that developed standing waves by this method. In his experiments, he made mathematical calculations and computations based on his experiments and discovered that the resonant frequency of the Earth was approximately 8 hertz (Hz).
In the 1950s, researchers confirmed that the resonant frequency of the Earth's ionospheric cavity was in this range (later named the Schumann resonance).
Today Schumann resonances are recorded at many separate research stations around the world. The sensors used to measure Schumann resonances typically consist of two horizontal magnetic induction coils for measuring the north-south and east-west components of the magnetic field, and a vertical electric dipole antenna for measuring the vertical component of the electric field. A typical passband of the instruments is 3-100 Hz.
The Schumann resonance electric field amplitude (~300 microvolts per meter) is much smaller than the static fair-weather electric field (~150 V/m) in the atmosphere. Similarly, the amplitude of the Schumann resonance magnetic field (~1 picotesla) is many orders of magnitude smaller than the Earth magnetic field (~30-50 microteslas). Therefore, special receivers and antennas are needed to detect and record Schumann resonances. The electric component is commonly measured with a ball antenna, suggested by Ogawa et al., in 1966, connected to a high-impedance amplifier. The magnetic induction coils typically consist of tens- to hundreds-of-thousands of turns of wire wound around a core of very high magnetic permeability.
From the very beginning of Schumann resonance studies, it was known that they could be used to monitor global lightning activity. At any given time there are about 2000 thunderstorms around the globe. Producing ~50 lightning events per second, these thunderstorms create the background Schumann resonance signal.
Determining the spatial lightning distribution from Schumann resonance records is a complex problem: in order to estimate the lightning intensity from Schumann resonance records it is necessary to account for both the distance to lightning sources as well as the wave propagation between the source and the observer.
The common approach is to make a preliminary assumption on the spatial lightning distribution, based on the known properties of lightning climatology. An alternative approach is placing the receiver at the North or South Pole, which remain approximately equidistant from the main thunderstorm centers during the day.
One method not requiring preliminary assumptions on the lightning distribution is based on the decomposition of the average background Schumann resonance spectra, utilizing ratios between the average electric and magnetic spectra and between their linear combination. This technique assumes the cavity is spherically symmetric and therefore does not include known cavity asymmetries that are believed to affect the resonance and propagation properties of electromagnetic waves in the system.
The best documented and the most debated features of the Schumann resonance phenomenon are the diurnal variations of the background Schumann resonance power spectrum.
A characteristic Schumann resonance diurnal record reflects the properties of both global lightning activity and the state of the earth-ionosphere cavity between the source region and the observer. The vertical electric field is independent of the direction of the source relative to the observer, and is therefore a measure of global lightning. The diurnal behavior of the vertical electric field shows three distinct maxima, associated with the three hot spots of planetary lightning activity: 9 UT (Universal Time) peak, linked to the increased thunderstorm activity from south-east Asia; 14 UT peak associated with the peak in African lightning activity; and the 20 UT peak resulting for the increase in lightning activity in South America. The time and amplitude of the peaks vary throughout the year, reflecting the seasonal changes in lightning activity.
In general, the African peak is the strongest, reflecting the major contribution of the African 'chimney' to the global lightning activity. The ranking of the two other peaks - Asian and American - is the subject of a vigorous dispute among Schumann resonance scientists. Schumann resonance observations made from Europe show a greater contribution from Asia than from South America.
This contradicts optical satellite and climatological lightning data that show the South American thunderstorm center stronger than the Asian center although observations made from North America indicate the dominant contribution comes from South America. The reason for such disparity remains unclear, but may have something to do with the 60hz cycling of electricity used in North America (60hz being a mode of Schumann Resonance).
Williams and Satori suggest that in order to obtain correct Asia-America chimney ranking, it is necessary to remove the influence of the day/night variations in the ionospheric conductivity (day-night asymmetry influence) from the Schumann resonance records. On the other hand, such corrected records presented in the work by Satori et al. show that even after the removal of the day-night asymmetry influence from Schumann resonance records, the Asian contribution remains greater than American.
Similar results were obtained by Pechony et al. who calculated Schumann resonance fields from satellite lightning data. It was assumed that the distribution of lightning in the satellite maps was a good proxy for Schumann excitations sources, even though satellite observations predominantly measure in-cloud lightning rather than the cloud-to-ground lightning that are the primary exciters of the resonances.
Both simulations - those neglecting the day-night asymmetry, and those taking this asymmetry into account, showed same Asia-America chimney ranking. As for today, the reason for the 'invert' ranking of Asia and America chimneys in Schumann resonance records remains unclear and the subject requires further, targeted research.
In the early literature the observed diurnal variations of Schumann resonance power were explained by the variations in the source-receiver (lightning-observer) geometry. It was concluded that no particular systematic variations of the ionosphere (which serves as the upper waveguide boundary) are needed to explain these variations.
Subsequent theoretical studies supported the early estimations of the small influence of the ionosphere day-night asymmetry (difference between day-side and night-side ionosphere conductivity) on the observed variations in Schumann resonance field intensities.
The interest in the influence of the day-night asymmetry in the ionosphere conductivity on Schumann resonances gained new strength in the 1990s, after publication of a work by Sentman and Fraser. Sentman and Fraser developed a technique to separate the global and the local contributions to the observed field power variations using records obtained simultaneously at two stations that were widely separated in longitude. They interpreted the diurnal variations observed at each station in terms of a combination of a diurnally varying global excitation modulated by the local ionosphere height.
Their work, which combined both observations and energy conservation arguments, convinced many scientists of the importance of the ionospheric day-night asymmetry and inspired numerous experimental studies. However, recently it was shown that results obtained by Sentman and Fraser can be approximately simulated with a uniform model (without taking into account ionosphere day-night variation) and therefore cannot be uniquely interpreted solely in terms of ionosphere height variation.
Schumann resonance amplitude records show significant diurnal and seasonal variations which in general coincide in time with the times of the day-night transition (the terminator). This time-matching seems to support the suggestion of a significant influence of the day-night ionosphere asymmetry on Schumann resonance amplitudes. There are records showing almost clock-like accuracy of the diurnal amplitude changes.
On the other hand there are numerous days when Schumann Resonance amplitudes do not increase at sunrise or do not decrease at sunset. There are studies showing that the general behavior of Schumann resonance amplitude records can be recreated from diurnal and seasonal thunderstorm migration, without invoking ionospheric variations.
Two recent independent theoretical studies have shown that the variations in Schumann resonance power related to the day-night transition are much smaller than those associated with the peaks of the global lightning activity, and therefore the global lightning activity plays a more important role in the variation of the Schumann resonance power.
It is generally acknowledged that source-observer effects are the dominant source of the observed diurnal variations, but there remains considerable controversy about the degree to which day-night signatures are present in the data. Part of this controversy stems from the fact that the Schumann resonance parameters extractable from observations provide only a limited amount of information about the coupled lightning source-ionospheric system geometry. The problem of inverting observations to simultaneously infer both the lightning source function and ionospheric structure is therefore extremely underdetermined, leading to the possibility of nonunique interpretations.
One of the interesting problems in Schumann resonances studies is determining the lightning source characteristics (the inverse problem). Temporally resolving each individual flash is impossible because the mean rate of excitation by lightning, ~50 lightning events per second globally, mixes up the individual contributions together. However, occasionally there occur extremely large lightning flashes which produce distinctive signatures that stand out from the background signals. Called "Q-bursts", they are produced by intense lightning strikes that transfer large amounts of charge from clouds to the ground, and often carry high peak current.
Q-bursts can exceed the amplitude of the background signal level by a factor of 10 or more, and appear with intervals of ~10 s, which allows to consider them as isolated events and determine the source lightning location. The source location is determined with either multi-station or single-station techniques, and requires assuming a model for the earth-ionosphere cavity. The multi-station techniques are more accurate, but require more complicated and expensive facilities.
It is now believed that many of the Schumann resonances transients (Q bursts) are related to the transient luminous events (TLEs). In 1995 Boccippio et al. showed that sprites, the most common TLE, are produced by positive cloud-to-ground lightning occurring in the stratiform region of a thunderstorm system, and are accompanied by Q-burst in the Schumann resonances band. Recent observations reveal that occurrences of sprites and Q bursts are highly correlated and Schumann resonances data can possibly be used to estimate the global occurrence rate of sprites.
Williams  suggested that global temperature may be monitored with the Schumann resonances. The link between Schumann resonance and temperature is lightning flash rate, which increases nonlinearly with temperature. The nonlinearity of the lightning-to-temperature relation provides a natural amplifier of the temperature changes and makes Schumann resonance a sensitive thermometer.
Moreover, the ice particles that are believed to participate in the electrification processes which result in a lightning discharge have an important role in the radiative feedback effects that influence the atmosphere temperature. Schumann resonances may therefore help us to understand these feedback effects. A strong link between global lightning and global temperature has not been experimentally confirmed as of 2008.
Tropospheric water vapor is a key element of the Earth's climate, which has direct effects as a greenhouse gas, as well as indirect effect through interaction with clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. Upper tropospheric water vapor (UTWV) has a much greater impact on the greenhouse effect than water vapor in the lower atmosphere, but whether this impact is a positive, or a negative feedback is still uncertain.
The main challenge in addressing this question is the difficulty in monitoring UTWV globally over long timescales. Continental deep-convective thunderstorms produce most of the lightning discharges on Earth. In addition, they transport large amount of water vapor into the upper troposphere, dominating the variations of global UTWV. Price 2000 suggested that changes in the UTWV can be derived from records of Schumann Resonances.
The existence of Schumann-like resonances is conditioned primarily by two factors: (1) a closed, planetary-sized spherical cavity, consisting of conducting lower and upper boundaries separated by an insulating medium. For the earth the conducting lower boundary is its surface, and the upper boundary is the ionosphere. Other planets may have similar electrical conductivity geometry, so it is speculated that they should possess similar resonant behavior. (2) source of electrical excitation of electromagnetic waves in the ELF range. Within the Solar System there are five candidates for Schumann resonance detection besides the Earth: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and its moon Titan.
Modeling Schumann resonances on the planets and moons of the Solar System is complicated by the lack of knowledge of the waveguide parameters. No in situ capability exists today to validate the results, but in the case of Mars there have been terrestrial observations of radio emission spectra that suggest the presence of Schumann resonances and there is the possibility that future lander missions could carry in situ instrumentation to perform the necessary measurements. Theoretical studies are primarily directed to parameterizing the problem for future planetary explorers.
The strongest evidence for lightning on Venus comes from the impulsive electromagnetic waves detected by Venera 11 and 12 landers. Theoretical calculations of the Schumann resonances at Venus were reported by Nickolaenko and Rabinowicz  and Pechony and Price .
Both studies yielded very close results, indicating that Schumann resonances should be easily detectable on this planet given a lightning source of excitation and a suitably located sensor.
On Mars detection of lightning activity has been reported by Ruf et al. , confirming the possibility of charge separation and lightning strokes in the Martian dust storms considered by Eden and Vonnegut  and Renno et al. . Martian global resonances were modeled by Sukhorukov , Pechony and Price  and Molina-Cuberos et al. .
The results of the three studies are somewhat different, but it seems that at least the first two Schumann resonance modes should be detectable. Evidence of the first three Schumann resonance modes is present in the spectra of radio emission from the lightning detected in Martian dust storms.
It was long ago suggested that lightning dischargers may occur on Titan, but recent data from Cassini-Huygens seems to indicate that there is no lightning activity on this largest satellite of Saturn. Due to the recent interest in Titan, associated with the Cassini-Huygens mission, its ionosphere is perhaps the most thoroughly modeled today. Schumann resonances on Titan have received more attention than on other celestial body, in works by Besser et al. , Morente et al. , Molina-Cuberos et al. , Nickolaenko et al.  and Pechony and Price  . It appears that only the first Schumann resonance mode might be detectable on Titan.
Jupiter is the only planet where lightning activity has been optically detected. Existence of lightning activity on this planet was predicted by Bar-Nun  and it is now supported by data from Galileo, Voyagers 1 and 2, Pioneers 10 and 11 and Cassini. Saturn is also expected to have intensive lightning activity, but the three visiting spacecrafts - Pioneer 11 in 1979, Voyager 1 in 1980 and Voyager 2 in 1981, failed to provide any convincing evidence from optical observations.
The strong storm monitored on Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft produced no visible lightning flashes, although electromagnetic sensors aboard the spacecraft detected signatures that are characteristic of lightning. Little is known about the electrical parameters of Jupiter and Saturn interior. Even the question of what should serve as the lower waveguide boundary is a non-trivial one in case of the gaseous planets. There seem to be no works dedicated to Schumann resonances on Saturn.
To date there has been only one attempt to model Schumann resonances on Jupiter. Here, the electrical conductivity profile within the gaseous atmosphere of Jupiter was calculated using methods similar to those used to model stellar interiors, and it was pointed out that the same methods could be easily extended to the other gas giants Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Given the intense lightning activity at Jupiter, the Schumann resonances should be easily detectable with a sensor suitably positioned within the planetary-ionospheric cavity. Read more ...
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Magdalena Gross grew up amongst the Warsaw intelligentsia. She used to make clay statues already while at school, studied sculpture, hosted the first exhibition of her works in 1926 and later on became famous as an animalier. During the war, she adopted the name Gościmska and did not move into the Warsaw ghetto. But as an artist who could had been recognized. Fearing denunciation, she asked the Żabiński family for help. The zoo director and his family hid Magdalena in their villa. They called her “the Starling”.
You can discover Magdalena Gross’s and many more stories on the website managed by POLIN – Museum of the History of Polish Jews and dedicated to people who helped Jews during the Holocaust, risking their own lives and the lives of their families.
The online portal “Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History” started as a project by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute in Poland and presents stories, places, pictures and interviews collected by the Museum throughout the years, but also allows users to add their own stories to the project.
The second world war and the Holocaust are no easy subjects and need to be handled with sensitivity, which makes them less than obvious candidates for an online platform directed at a very wide audience.
But with specialist and project manager Klara Jackl, POLIN has managed to expand the project way beyond its traditional exhibition that travels the world. Indeed, as she will show during her WAM17 workshop entitled Testimony, object, story: online projects as tools in civic and history education, the project has achieved to strike a balance between historical content, simplicity of the form and attractiveness of the message.
Considering that an online platform allows a different experience than a physical exhibition, Klara Jackl has chosen to make the most of it by creating online exhibitions, themed galleries, but also include educational resources. As for the stories themselves, they can be explored through different entry points: by names of the Righteous, names of the saved families and locations. Each story comes with context that does not distract the user from reading its core but provides powerful pictures, additional sources and bibliography, information about relationships between people. The website also highlights news and current events – and gives the opportunity to explore Poland by walking in the footsteps of the Righteous, showing the part of History they are focusing on is still relevant.
The platform really brings the Righteous and the Jews they saved a bit closer to the visitors by still creating a universe in which people who still haven’t shared their story feel safe to do so because it will be shared in a respectful way.
Register for WAM17 and attend Klara’s workshop, during which she will give you her best advice to create powerful experiences around History in a sensitive but impactful way that convey important messages.: POLIN


Water storage level in the reservoirs of 12 states in the country has declined as compared to the corresponding period last year, the Central Water Commission (CWC) said.
Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the states having lesser water storage than last year as on July 3, CWC said in a statement.
The CWC data comes amid reports that the worst impact of a sub-normal monsoon is likely to be in western India with possible drought-like conditions in some areas. The Western region comprising Gujarat and Maharashtra has 22 reservoirs with a storage capacity of 24.54 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM).
The total storage available in these reservoirs is 5.58 BCM, which is 23 per cent of total storage capacity. The storage during the current year is less than the storage of last year, the release added.
However, there is some good news for a few states, where the storage has been better this year. While states such as Punjab, Odisha and Chhattisgarh are having better storage than the corresponding period last year, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh have reported equal storage.


We don’t run or bike with both legs at the same time, so why do we train both legs together in the gym? Good question, right? The answer is, maybe you shouldn’t be.
While bilateral training (think the traditional squat) is by no means a bad thing, unilateral training (single-leg squat, lunge, step-up, etc.) may be a better choice for endurance athletes.
Unilateral exercises are an integral part of rehabilitation programs—they offer one of the most effective ways to retrain muscle groups and get your body working the way it was meant to. The thing is you don’t have to be broken to take advantage of this type of training. Aside from its ability to guard against injury and improve your overall running performance, there are five more reasons you should definitely consider incorporating unilateral training into your workout routine.
Reduce Muscle Imbalances
Everyone has a dominant and non-dominant side; generally the limbs on your dominant side are stronger than those on the non-dominant side. When you’re performing a traditional bilateral squat, in most cases, your dominant leg will compensate to some degree for any weakness in your non-dominant leg. By training one leg at a time, you’re forcing your non-dominant leg to step up and work just as hard as your dominant leg. Over time, unilateral training will resolve any muscle imbalances you may have.
Improve Muscle Recruitment
Bilateral training provides a pretty cushy exercise environment; unilateral training, on the other hand makes you work harder and recruit more muscle fibers to perform the exact same movement. Take squats for example. When done with both legs your body is in a balanced, comfortable position. Remove one leg out of the equation and now your abductors and core have to work to stabilize your pelvis while your working leg executes the squat. One limb movements also necessitate greater recruitment of the stabilizer muscles that surround the working joint.
Build Functional Strength
Yes, traditional bilateral training will make you stronger and make you a better runner, but how often do you really have the opportunity to use both legs equally to do something? Take running on uneven terrain, for example; each leg has to have the physical capacity to withstand uneven loads coming from any direction like when you jump over a fallen log or have to take an extra big stride to miss a puddle.
Greater Workout Intensity
Some runners find strength-training tedious because it can lack the vigor of cardio. Well, unilateral training allows you to crank the volume on your workout intensity because you don’t have to rest between sets. Since you’re working one leg at a time you can move from one leg to the next, allowing each leg some recovery time without giving your heart and lungs any time off. The constant movement will push your intensity through the roof, making it an awesome addition to your cross-training arsenal.
Incorporated Core Training
When you train one leg at a time, you automatically throw your body off balance. Unilateral exercises provide a disruptive torque to the body, forcing your core muscles to engage in order to neutralize the force and keep your body upright. The uneven weight distribution instantly recruits your deep stabilizer muscles and has them working throughout the duration of the exercise, giving you a solid core workout without any added effort on your part.


Meditations c 175 Marcus Aurelius, Rome, 121-180 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death. Regarded as the last of the ‘Five Good Emperors,’ he ruled the Roman Empire from 161 to 180, and is also considered one of the most important stoic philosophers. He, along with Julius Caesar, is the only one of two ancient leaders whose written works makes The Great Books List. While in popular imagination Marcus Aurelius is regarded as an intellectual leader, his reign was marked by several wars including those against the Parthians, Germans and even elements of his own...
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Scientists just want to share – at least in one sense. When we believe we’ve discovered something new, we want to tell as many others as possible. We also want to provide all the information required to convince others we’re right.
Yet most scientists’ reports of their discoveries are not freely available. While the journal articles in which discoveries are reported are all on the web nowadays, to read those webpages you’ll be coughing up some serious dough – up to A$42 an article. That is, unless you’re lucky enough to be associated with an institution that’s already paid the subscription fee.
As do most of my colleagues, I provide free labour to the publishers (Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley-Blackwell among others) who defend this regressive system. So even though I’ve been posting my articles in freely-accessible web repositories, I’m still a part of the problem. This is the story of how we scientists got stuck.
The way we were
Modern science began in the 17th century, and was mostly pursued by well-to-do aristocrats with time on their hands. These researchers wanted to trumpet their findings and, with no internet or telephones, had to resort to posting letters to a few of their fellows. This spread new knowledge around a bit, but rather slowly.
Scientists needed a mass publishing system for their reports. An audience with the king was arranged, and in 1660 Charles II chartered the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. The world’s first scientific journal soon followed, published by this new Royal Society.
Its printing press wasn’t cheap, and neither was the printing itself, so the Fellow of the Royal Society managing the journal ran it like a business and charged for copies. Scientific publishing was now a business and it grew rapidly.
Some 350 years later, scientific publishing is a very big business indeed, bringing in well over A$4 billion of revenue a year. Unfortunately, many of these billions are earned by publishers who charge exorbitant fees for a subscription to their journals. It’s easy money, and comes mostly from universities and governments.
The icing on the cake is that those not associated with a subscribing university or research institution pay a fee for each article they download.
Elsevier is the largest science publisher with more than 2,000 scientific journals. In 2010, Elsevier reported profits had reached 36% of revenue. This is absolutely whopping at a time when the internet has greatly reduced or eliminated the profits of newspaper, magazine and book publishers.
Massive profits are great for the company’s shareholders, but bad for researchers, universities, and everyone who might benefit from scientific knowledge.
We’re mired in a system that wastes taxpayers’ money and unnecessarily restricts the flow of new knowledge. We scientists would like our journals to be “open access” – with the door of the journal’s website always open so anyone can visit and download our articles.
The largely for-profit publishing system particularly galls because we scientists do most of the work, but the publishers make all the money. For most journals, scientists not only write all the manuscripts submitted to them, but also vet and edit all these manuscripts before they are published – the peer-review process – all without receiving a cent for their services.
In a free market, one would expect lower-cost publishers to eventually win the day. But scientists, and the administrators who assess us, are so attached to the prestige of the older journal titles that new journals typically don’t get much traction.
The prestige of the journal that our articles are published in is often used by administrators as a measure of the quality of our work.
This is not a good way to assess research quality, and makes us even more beholden to the publishers that own the prestigious journal titles.
For a long time my feelings about this alternated between despair and anger, but eventually I learned to laugh. A colleague and I created a video satirising the publishers, which we shared on YouTube and can be seen below.
Our video, together with hundreds of blog posts on the topic, opinion pieces, and sundry rantings posted to Facebook and Twitter, have helped inform the scientific populace about the economic context of what they do.
In the past few months, boycotts of Elsevier and of the subscription model generally have begun, organised through websites created by individual scientists. I created OpenAccessPledge, which was quickly followed by ResearchWithoutWalls and TheCostOfKnowledge.
The last of these has attracted, in less than three weeks, more than 3,900 researchers pledging to withdraw their labour from Elsevier journals.
It’s too early to know what the effects of this, but I predict these actions, together with the discussions among researchers they propel, will result in at least a few communities of researchers discarding their traditional publishing system in favour of an open-access model.
The protests may also cause some publishers to reduce their lobbying against open access, in an effort to quell the uprising.
So far, researchers in areas such as biology and medicine have not signed up for the boycotts in large numbers, probably because these fields are particularly caught up in the traditional journal system. Refusing to work with prestigious journals can undermine one’s career prospects.
If everyone in the field simultaneously agreed to boycott those journals, it would be better for all, but failing that we are all trapped in an unhappy situation. This type of conundrum, whereby individuals alone cannot bring about change, is essentially a form of the tragedy of the commons, or the problem of collective action.
But where this problem stymies individuals, government agencies can sometimes effect wholesale change with the stroke of a pen. In 2007, the American National Institutes of Health began requiring articles produced by the researchers they fund to be available free of charge within 12 months of publication.
In the UK, the Wellcome Trust and the Research Councils UK soon followed suit with their own open access mandates, and these policies have been very successful. Unfortunately, in Australia we are yet to see a single such mandate from the research councils (such as the Australian Research Council (ARC) or National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)).
Some universities, including the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), have leapt ahead and already require nearly all their research outputs be freely available.
This is usually achieved by posting their researchers’ manuscripts in digital repositories that can be accessed online. Older Australian universities such as Sydney have begun taking some steps forward but have not yet implemented anything as strong as the QUT policy.
Mandating free access to their research outputs is a straightforward way for universities and governments to solve much of the problem, but we’ll also need university and government funds to help grow the digital repositories and other new models of publishing. The non-profit Public Library of Science, among others, uses an “author-pays” publishing system.
The researchers who submit a manuscript are charged a fee to cover the costs associated with peer review and internet publishing. Readers pay nothing – everything is free to download. Thanks to the wisdom of government research funders in the UK, government-funded scientists there receive dedicated funds to publish with open-access “author pays” publishers. Not so here in Australia.
Governments and large institutions are inherently conservative, and therefore must be pressured to discard old and inefficient ways of doing things. So real change often originates at the grassroots, after enough frustration builds that individuals break out of their officially sanctioned procedures and start doing things differently. This is what we’re seeing with the recent protests and creation of new publishing models.
An academic spring?
The Economist last week compared the anti-publisher efforts by researchers to the anti-government movements of the last year in the Middle East, describing it as an “Academic spring”. That comparison seems a bit grandiose. Still, our goal is important – unfettered access to new knowledge – and we may be at an historic moment.
It is time to attack the old, closed ways. But governments and universities must also actively support the new, open systems for disseminating knowledge.


Explain Have a student describe the difference between fantasy and reality. Tell students they will create a short fantasy based on a picture of a toy.
Guided Practice/Practice Form teams. Ask each team to choose one picture. Have them create a short fantasy scene using the toy as a main character. Circulate and provide assistance if necessary. Have one student from each team read the team’s scene to the rest of the class.
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Our learning community is a truly unique place where children and educators come together to learn from one another. We embrace play as the core of all learning and work hard to protect the magnificence of childhood through providing ample opportunities to play, dance, explore, hypothesize, take risks, make mistakes and honor successes.
We believe that children are competent, capable learners who have much to contribute to their learning community. The aim of the program is to respond to the needs of every child as s/he develops awareness of the world and a curiosity for learning. Each classroom provides developmentally appropriate materials and activities for our children in the areas of social/emotional learning, cognitive learning, fine and gross motor development, self help skills and much, much more.
Through planned experiences and provocations for learning, children are challenged to explore their world, solve problems, develop physically, and expand language skills and concepts. Teachers nurture a sense of competence and self-worth in every child, which allows them to be willing to take risks and dive deeper into their learning experiences. Our goal for our learners as they move on in the next phases in life are to be able to access the resources around them to be successful, to identify was to unravel cognitive knots in learning, be able to persevere when feeling stuck and be able to engage in self regulatory experiences with ease. Research shows that the children who are ready for kindergarten and life in general are the ones who are able to easily socially navigate the world, work through challenges problems, and is able to persevere in the face of adversity or difficulties.
Our children experience a variety of small group and large group experiences each day. Our small groups allow us to offer a more intimate experience for our children that leads to a deeper level of exploration, inquiry and discovery. Our philosophy is an eclectic collection of "best practices" in early childhood education. We are influenced by Reggio Emilia philosophy, Montessori, RIE and project based learning. While we do not adopt one specific practice we utilize the best practices from each to create our own pedagogy of learning.


The world reflects a mathematical like order, which is a fact that could easily be turned around to say that the world is constrained or produced by this order. The same thing is true in every area of human endeavor, such that the law or order of any system can be confused with the system and its existence. Theories of progress attached to the Enlightenment, for example, came to see progress as a product of history. The world is improving, in this theory, and the trajectory of this improvement might be traced in every field – science is progressing, culture is progressing, the human species is progressing, and this progress is not simply a description but is a law which is driving this progress. Human progress in the sciences, in the accumulation of knowledge, in the improvements of medicine, is propelled by an immanent force called progress. The descriptor “progress” becomes its own cause. This was reified in a Newtonian world in which the laws of time and space were not mere descriptions of the way things are but they became the only possibility, such that even God works within these laws productive of reality. Biological evolution can be read as a product of the Enlightenment notion applied to the life sciences. Political science, social science, physics, or simply the advancement of human culture, each seemed to follow the same law. The law of progress is a drive that presumes perfection, utopia, justice, morality, is the end product of this law. In short, life and life more abundant is to be found in the law of progress.
Intrinsic to the idea of progress is the idea that human society had to progress to the point where it discovered the idea of progress. Just thinking the idea is already a sign that we no longer have to do with ancient thought, Christian thought, or unenlightened thought. Only those who have been enlightened by the thought of progress – the key thought of enlightenment – have thought the greatest thought that can be thought (to mix periods if not ideas). This is the most cherished idea of the enlightenment and the thought itself is a sign of what it speaks. Only a true modern could have conceived of this idea as it is only now, in this modern period, that the ideas of fate and of the fall have been defeated in notions of a real world (as opposed to other-worldly) progress.
All of which is, of course, simply untrue, as Ludwig Edelstein provides us with The Idea of Progress in Antiquity, filled out by W.K.C. Guthrie, in his In the Beginning and E.R. Dodds, The Ancient Concept of Progress, and F.J. Teggart’s, Theory of History, each of which inform us the idea of progress is an ancient notion. As Edelstein sums it up, the ancients “formulated most of the thoughts and sentiments that later generations down to the nineteenth century were accustomed to associate with the blessed or cursed word progress.” The modern idea of progress, the central achievement of the enlightenment, a proof that proves itself, turns out to be an ancient idea traceable throughout human history.
My point here is not simply to point out the self-refuting, tautologous, or absurd nature of the idea of progress, but it is to suggest that this idea is a manifestation of a form of thought which endlessly repeats itself. Life is in the law, philosophy contains the truth, I think therefore I am, God is the greatest thought that can be thought, and progress is an idea that gives us itself, are all manifestations of the same tautologous system. It is a closed form of thought which presumes thought, or the symbolic order, or the law, or philosophy, can deliver life, truth, or God. In this understanding, truth is a method that simply has to be applied to confirm the method as it produces the truth. The law is the law, or progress is its own proof, or, as Anselm will describe it, do what I am doing now in thinking the greatest thought. Each is an irrefutable proof made irrefutable on the terms of having the thought, believing the idea, or sharing the insight.
As Thomas Kuhn demonstrates, normal science cannot challenge the paradigm of normal science (with its notion of progress), because the paradigm is itself equated with the scientific method. Normal science, as he describes it, is written in texts uniquely exemplified by the observations, laws, and theories described in their pages (what we are doing now). Science is a constellation of facts, theories, and methods collected in current texts and scientists are those who do the collecting. Scientists are those who apply the method and have added to the ever-growing stockpile of scientific knowledge and if one would challenge the method or stockpile, by definition this person is not a scientist. There is no backward movement in science as science is a method that deploys progress as part of its method. Kuhn’s introduction of the false starts and backward movement of history and humanity into the sciences is a challenge to normal science, which presumes these are somehow excluded. The method is, after all, the truth.
The Einsteinian revolution not only revolutionizes physics, but in Kuhn’s telling, it is a key example of the new understanding of paradigms and of science, which Kuhn is developing. Einstein revolutionizes science by incorporating humanity into the method – time is relative to an observer. Though the popularization of this notion makes of it more than what Einstein meant in his theory of relativity, this is the significance Kuhn links (but does not necessarily attribute to Einstein) to paradigm shifts and their grounding in the human condition. Einstein’s fusion of space/time and his notion that this continuum bends, that the universe has a beginning, and that time is relative to an observer, changes up the meaning of scientific law and scientific method. The law as productive of order has its limits, whether we are speaking of the laws of the universe or the method of science. Einstein does not refute Newtonian laws, but he suggests that they have a limited application, which is a refutation of their absoluteness. Non-absolute or relative law was not, however, a thought that even Einstein was comfortable with; a discomfort he expressed with quantum mechanics.
I presume that the key biblical insight, repeated in a variety of forms, is a refutation of any system which would fold in on itself and continually reproduce itself. The notion that the sacrificial system of the temple is an end in itself is refuted by the prophetic witness which culminates in the claim “sacrifice and burnt offering I (God) never desired” (Heb. 10:8). Whether it is the food laws, the sabbath laws, or simply the law per se, the biblical witness is that there is no life in the law. To presume that the scriptures or the letter of the law contains life or that it is an absolute, is equated with death. The Sabbath was made for man and not the other way round. The letter of the law, or the scriptures, or the law of the mind, or the law of the body, are relative, finite, created, and limited. The law of sin and death describes the absolutizing of the law and it is this all-encompassing law which Christ overturned in his resurrection.
Strangely, and as its name implies, contractual theology presumes the law is absolute. The law is a perfect expression of God’s righteous character and human failure to live up to the law is definitive of sin. The punishment for sin is a balancing of the books, as God’s honor has been impugned and his legal/righteous requirement is set right through punishment. In a contractual reading of how we know God, it is assumed we can know all we really need on the basis of a natural (law) understanding. God is known as omnipotent and omniscient from the cosmos through reason and conscience and this knowledge makes all people legally culpable. God’s ethical demands are clear to Jews through the law and innately (the law written on the heart) by everyone else, so that reward and punishment are determined on the basis of keeping the law. Humans are sinful and everyone violates the law or fails to meet its ethical demands, and honest introspection reveals this fact so that everyone knows they are damned (all rational people are afraid and want a way out). Luckily, Christ offers a resolution to the double problem of knowing God in his omniscient justice, knowing the law, knowing of one’s incapacity to keep the law, and being afraid of one’s deserved punishment. He provides the legal balance in his death. Believing in his death, somehow adds the legal benefits he accrues to the believer. (In this system one knows just enough to be legally culpable and yet cannot know or do enough to be legally exculpable.)
The alternative to this misconstrued legal knowing is what Paul describes as resurrection knowing. As he describes in both Romans and Philippians, there is knowing grounded in the law and this is contrasted with what he describes (in 2 Cor 3) as resurrection knowing. Apart from knowing the resurrected Jesus one is bound by sin and death (the law of sin and death) in which state one has believed a lie (Ro 1:18ff, 7:7ff; Php 3:10-11). This lie is the lie which contractual theology repeats, but which every system which would make the law absolute repeats. Paul’s proclamation is that there is no available light (natural law adequate for righteousness), there is no possibility of arriving (through the law) at absolute truth as one is given over to a lie (the lie that the law, made absolute, contains life). Resurrection knowing (knowing by the power of resurrection) is guided by the Spirit and Paul contrasts this with knowing according to the letter of the law which kills (II Cor. 3:6).
In contractual theology God is known as a just, law giving, angry judge such that a theodicy (the answer to the problem of evil is that God causes it) is extrapolated (by Calvin) as flowing out of the character of God. Paul says, the death and resurrection of Christ is the vindicating act of God (Rom. 4:25). It is not simply that he is making things legally right but he is bringing about justice and righteousness in the world. God’s justice in this understanding is not focused on application of law but deliverance from death (as the orientation to death is what is wrong and what needs to be made right). God is the one who delivers from the punishing effects of sin and death, and this is his righteousness (Ro 8:1).
The contractual form of the Christian faith poses the wrong problem (God’s anger), gives us the wrong answer (law is satisfied through the death of Christ – law being the main thing), and concludes death and resurrection are secondary to the main problem (God’s wrath due to the transgression of the law). It divides out ethics and says righteousness is a legality (on the part of God and in the answer), as it does not bring about a real or necessary change (it is legally imputed). A religion which imagines God must punish the sinner as the law requires it, which then says he does not punish the sinner, but punishes a perfectly righteous man instead, and then attributes his righteousness to the sinner, is working in the very abstract legal fiction which the New Testament consistently refutes. Paul describes himself as perfect in regard to the law and the chief of sinners. Jesus ministry is a continual challenge to the law – “you have heard it said, but I say unto you.” He points out that the sick need a physician, the blind need to see, and the point of the sabbath is not to obstruct human need but to serve it. The law is a death dealing instrument where it is not relativized by love, as this is its true purpose which Jesus fulfills in the law of the Spirit. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Ro 8:2).
Where resurrection is understood as the answer to the problem, law is not a primary category but the focus is on the misorientation to the law resulting in a living death. The system that imagines life is in the knowledge of good and evil, life is in progress, life is the symbolic order, is called the law of sin and death. Law in the lie that is sin, is thought to be a means to life and this “life in the law” sort of life is a living death. Yet the economy of salvation in contractual theory is presumed to operate on the basis of this lie in regard to the law.
Paul says that apart from the resurrection of Christ you are still in your sins (I Cor. 15:17) because sin reigns through death and death no longer reigns only where Christ’s death and resurrection have defeated the orientation to death. Without the resurrection the redemptive, liberating effect of Christ’s death remains ineffective, for his death and resurrection are two sides of the redemption from the bondage to sin and death. New life (resurrection life) is the direct correlate of this delivery from bondage to the slavery of fear of death.
So, whether it is the law of progress, the laws of physics, or the law of Moses, the failed human tendency is to make this symbolic order absolute. Language or law is made to serve in place of life. The resurrection relativizes every law, pointing to the one who is above and over the law and who holds the power of resurrection life.
 Faith and I recently watched the National Geographic dramatization of Einstein, which depicted Niels Bohr quoting Einstein to Einstein, who had challenged the absolute nature of Newtonian law. Bohr suggested he was not willing to apply his own critique to himself in his refusal to believe that physical systems have only probabilities and that specific properties are a by-product of being measured. Einstein’s relativity theory is stretched by quantum mechanics, as it not only incorporates the human observer into the equation but makes his observation a determining factor in the outcome. This was too relative for the Father of relativity, as Einstein argued that entities such as electrons have an independent reality. He summed up his view with, “God does not play dice,” and as he would later explain, “What we call science has the sole purpose of determining what is.”


This book argues that psychiatry's love affair with the diagnosis of depression has become a death grip. Depression is a real illness, especially in its melancholic form. But most patients who get the diagnosis of 'depression' are also anxious, fatigued, unable to sleep, have all kinds of physical symptoms, and tend to obsess about the whole thing. They do not have a disorder of 'mood'. It is a travesty to call them all 'depressed.' How did this happen? How did everyone become depressed? A well-known historian, the author describes how in the 19th century patients with those symptoms were considered 'nervous,' and when they lost control it was a 'nervous breakdown.' Then psychiatry turned its back on the whole concept of nerves, and - first under the influence of Freud's psychoanalysis and then the influence of the pharmaceutical industry - the diagnosis of depression took center stage. The result has been a scientific disaster, leading to the misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment (with antidepressants) of millions of patients.
Urging that the diagnosis of depression be re-thought, the book turns a dramatic page in the understanding of psychiatric symptoms that are as common as the common cold. The book makes an immediate contribution to the debate about DSM5, which is due to be released very soon, in terms of discussing the diagnosis of depression. The author controversially proposes replacing the diagnosis of 'major depression' with 'melancholia' and 'nonmelancholia'; he argues that depression and anxiety usually occur together and are really the same disease; and he says that patients with so-called mood disorders really have a disorder of the entire body. The author's ability to make use of the enormous well of psychiatry's past history in several languages make this a unique book that contributes to the important discussions today of diagnosis and treatment.


The United States wanted to stay fairly neutral, and were for the first to years of war. For these first two years the United States weren't fighting in the war, but they did give financial loans to France and Britain. The United States also had a good economy during this time with lots of jobs that had good pay, and immigration was low. However the war was not going well in Europe; the war was less glorious than what they originally thought.
The United States Stays Out


Defining the Family Rules
Defining the Family Rules
How are your family's values put into action? Through personal limits and through family rules. Family rules define what is and isn't allowed in your family. They apply to everybody. (Waiting for something that says only Joey can't cross the street by himself? That's a personal limit.)
Defining your family rules can be helpful, especially if you're having disciplinary problems. It's not required. Some families don't believe in having specific family rules. Done right, the family value statement (no matter how short) should cover the territory. If a behavior doesn't fit into your family's value statement, it is against the rules, and that's that. Other families rely on clearly defined family rules. It's a matter of your family's approach to life.
Too many family rules and your family will start focusing more on what it can't do rather than what it can, and that's not very positive now, is it?
Use Family Rules Sparingly
Louanne Johnson, author of School Is Not a Four-Letter Word, tells the story of her first few years of teaching: yards of rules that she, and her students, were constantly fighting over and forgetting. Finally she tore up the rule sheet and wrote a new one, with only two rules:
- Respect yourself and the other people in the room.
- No insults against anybody's race, religion, skin color, ethnic background, gender, or sexual preference.
Johnson makes a point of noting that rule number two is included in rule number one, but she wanted to stress it. Behavior in her classroom was measured against these two rules. Spitting is disrespectful, therefore it was against the rules. With this simplified approach to behavior, Johnson's whole classroom dynamic changed.
If you look closely, Johnson's rule number one is a value statement and rule number two, which is more explicit and precise, is a rule.
Family Rules Are Your Family Values in Action
Family rules are more specific than the values expressed in your family value statement. They are how the general values are expressed in the real world. To define family rules for your family, sit down with your partner (yes, just the two of you for this discussion; it's not a kid thing) and go over the list of suggested topics below. You'll see that the potential for rules is endless. Some of the topics you may want to write a rule for, some not, and there may be a variety of topics I haven't included here. Remember:
- Keep your rule list sparse; the fewer there are, the more power each rule will have.
- Developing your list will probably take you more than one sitting.
- Write down your rules and review them the next day.
- The very process of discussing these issues with your parenting partner may lead to some very interesting conversations—and potential conflicts to be resolved. It's worthwhile to air these differences before they become household issues, even if you decide not to have any “official” family rules.
- Remember that family rules apply to everybody. If the rules are only for the kids, or if they're supposed to be for everybody but you break them, you're saying, “I'm the one in power (ha-ha, you're not),” “I'm an adult so I matter, you're a kid so you don't,” and “Just wait until you grow up. Then you can break all the rules you want.” Say you make a family rule that everybody's room has to be kept presentable. If your bedroom remains swallowed by piles of clothes, old papers, and dirty dishes, you're just about assured that your child's will look the same.
Even if you love rules, don't even begin to think you can make family rules to cover every contingency. As a matter of fact, the fewer rules the better!Try this Family Rules Definition Exercise


Your uterus is a wonderful organ, making the creation of new human life possible. For all its wonder, it is also subject to diseases such as uterine cancer. Identification and elimination of this disease is critical in its early stages, as left untreated it can spread to the rectum, bladder, vagina, ovaries, or other organs throughout the body. Thankfully uterine cancer typically grows very slowly and is often identified before it progresses very far.
Am I At Risk For Uterine Cancer?
The most commonly occurring form of uterine cancer is known as endometrial cancer and is almost exclusively a concern for women over the age of 40. Of these women, there are factors that have been shown to increase their risk of developing this disease. Those who are most at risk are over 40 years of age and:
- Began menstruating early
- Suffer from obesity
- Experienced a late menopause
- Haven’t had children, or have had few children
- Have experienced irregular periods, infertility, or have had abnormal cells in the endometrium.
- Are genetically predisposed to it due to colorectal, endometrial, or breast cancer in the family.
Those who are treating breast cancer with tamoxifen have also been shown to have an increased risk of developing endometrial cancer.
What Can I Do To Prevent Endometrial Cancer?
While endometrial cancer cannot be actively prevented, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of developing it. Women on birth control have been shown to have a lower risk of developing this condition. Lowering your weight, healthy eating, and staying active also play a role in reducing the possibility of developing this disease.
What Symptoms Indicate the Presence of Endometrial Cancer?
One of the reasons that receiving regular exams is vital to women’s health is diseases like endometrial cancer and cervical cancer. One thing that both these conditions share in common is that they don’t typically demonstrate any symptoms until they have spread beyond the uterus or cervix. The most common symptoms that can identify endometrial cancer are:
- Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding – Heavy, irregular, or ongoing vaginal bleeding is considered abnormal in premenopausal women. Any bleeding that occurs in women who are postmenopausal is considered abnormal.
- Vaginal Discharge – Foul-smelling, thick, water, pink, or brown discharge.
- Uterus Enlargement – This is detectable during a uterine exam.
- Unexpected Weight Loss – A common symptom of cancer
- Weakness – Experienced in the legs, back, or lower abdomen, a sign cancer has spread
If you’ve noticed any of these symptoms, especially abnormal discharge or bleeding, it’s time to reach out to our clinic. While this form of cancer is uncommon in premenopausal women, it’s better to have it checked out if you have any concerns. Our team of women’s oncology experts will help set your mind at ease or help you develop a comprehensive plan of attack to fight your way back to health. Don’t wait until it’s too late, contact our offices to ensure your lasting gynecological health today!


Political Science is a broad social science discipline devoted to the study of government and politics of the US, other countries, and the international system. Our central goal is to produce students with a well-rounded knowledge of the discipline and a set of skills that serve as a basis for careers in any number of fields after graduation.
The study of political science provides an excellent basis to learn new skills and knowledge that can be applied in nearly any field. As a discipline, the focus of study is on the political process and institutions of various political systems, including the United States. However, the analysis of politics and government often involves other disciplines, such as history, economics, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology, business, criminal justice, etc. This explicitly multi-disciplinary approach contributes to well-rounded graduates, which naturally leads them into a wide variety of careers. Moreover, the major emphasizes examining problems from multiple perspectives, attention to factual details, and the need to continually develop and revise broader theoretical ideas. This academic experience is later utilized by graduates in whatever careers they choose to pursue.
The Political Science program emphasizes the development of a key set of skills that will enhance a graduate’s long-term career prospects. Specifically, our courses highlight the importance of reading comprehension, critical and analytical thinking, and written and oral communication skills. For students that choose advanced educational opportunities after graduation, such as law school or graduate school, these skills serve as an essential foundation for future academic success. Other students prefer to directly enter the workforce and these same skills are widely applicable in politics, business, journalism, public administration, criminal justice, communications, marketing, and research. Put simply, the emphasis on skills is designed to allow our graduates to excel in almost any career path. Indeed, our recent graduates have selected careers related to politics, government, business, education, law, and criminal justice.
Students in the program develop a broad body of knowledge about politics and government that serves two further goals. First, the factual basis of government and politics is the subject that we use to develop key skills—reading, analysis, and communication. Knowing the basic structures of government and the rules of political behavior is the basis for contrasting and applying different ideological and philosophical perspectives on politics. Second, a strong knowledge-base serves to help students (and ultimately graduates) exercise leadership and civic engagement. In other words, knowledge of political systems affords students an important advantage to engage in political participation and advocacy.
The curriculum in Political Science reflects our wide-ranging perspective on politics, with courses that range from US politics to regional politics and international relations. These include courses on the presidency and Congress, state and local politics, campaigns and elections, civic engagement and participation, US foreign policy, and courts and the Constitution. The department also offers courses about specific regions, such as Latin America and the Middle East, as well as thematic courses about global democratization, political economy, terrorism, human rights and international activism, and international organizations. Moreover, students are encouraged to take additional courses with significant political content outside of the department.
The Political Science major requires a total of 37 credits (typically 13 courses) and provides students maximum flexibility to pursue their interests. Only four courses are specifically required: the foundation courses in each of the three major subfields (American politics, comparative politics, and international relations) and one course in social science methodology. Remaining courses may be selected by the student based on interest and availability. In most cases, courses are relatively small and students receive individual attention. Political Science majors work closely with advisers throughout the program to select appropriate courses in both the discipline and the General Education program (required of all graduates). As a small—but growing—program, we work to serve the varied needs and interests of our majors as we prepare them for the highly competitive global workforce.
All majors are encouraged, but not required, to consider three key opportunities at Mansfield University. First, we strongly support the study of a foreign language. Developing a foreign language skill requires hard work and dedication, but the benefits include a better understanding of global culture, a way of distinguishing a graduate from the competition, and the further honing of critical thinking skills. Second, we urge majors to take advantage of our extensive study abroad options. A semester-long experience in any foreign country teaches students about the target country, about the US, and about themselves. In most cases, students can take courses toward the major (and the General Education requirements) while overseas. Some study abroad options do not require foreign language experience. Last, we highly recommend that our majors gain some practical work experience through internships. We have placed full-time interns in both Washington DC and Harrisburg, working for government agencies and interest groups. Part-time internships can be arranged locally during the semester and over the summer. Up to 6 credits may be applied toward the major; all credits count toward graduation requirements.
Our program will:
- Provide an academically challenging curriculum based on the sub-fields of political science: American politics, comparative politics (politics within countries), and international relations (politics among countries).
- Promote independent thinking, thorough analysis, and critical perspectives on issues and problems.
- Instill an appreciation for the complexities of politics and the importance of civic engagement.
The student will:
- identify and explain underlying principles, actors, institutions, and processes associated with political science.
- relate current events to political science.
- construct analytical arguments supported with evidence.
- investigate political phenomena using social science methods.
- communicate ideas and information in an effective manner.
There are a total of 37 credits needed for a B.A. in Political Science. All majors must take the following required courses (16 credits):
- PHL 2205 Law, Morality and Authority
- PSC 2201 Introduction to American Government
- PSC 2210 Introduction to International Relations
- PSC 2212 Introduction to Comparative Politics
- PSC 3308 Social Science Research Methods
- PSC 4444 Political Science Seminar (1 credit)
Students must also take an additional 21 credits of political science electives. However, 15 of the 21 credits must be from an upper division political science course (3000 or 4000 level).
Students are also required to select a minor (in consultation with their adviser) unless they have completed the second year of a foreign language.
Program taught in: