The emergence of unconventional metaphors of beauty calls on us to pay attention to competing and seemingly intractable connotations of fear, darkness, ugliness, oppression, repression, callousness and dejection that won’t leave us indifferent to their appeal.

For over a decade, the Harry Potter books have become ubiquitous early texts for children, and are also a popular choice for many adults. Indeed, an entire generation of children has now grown up in the midst of "Pottermania." But beyond the books, movies, web sites, and more, this significant cultural phenomenon also constitutes a powerful form of social text, and speaks volumes about the intersections of ideology, popular culture, and childhood. Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter provided the first sustained analyses of the iconic status of the Potter books, bringing together scholars from various disciplines to examine the impact of the series. This thoroughly revised edition includes updated essays on cultural themes and literary analysis, and its new essays analyze the full scope of the seven-book series as both pop cultural phenomenon and as a set of literary texts. Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter, Second Edition draws on a wider range of intellectual traditions to explore the texts, including moral-theological analysis, psychoanalytic perspectives, and philosophy of technology. The Harry Potter novels engage the social, cultural, and psychological preoccupations of our times, and Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter, Second Edition examines these worlds of consciousness and culture, ultimately revealing how modern anxieties and fixations are reflected in these powerful texts. ("DISCLAIMER: This book is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., or anyone associated with the Harry Potter books or movies.")

The technological capacity to transform biology - repairing, reshaping and replacing body parts, chemicals and functions – is now part of our lives. Humanity is confronted with a variety of affordable and non-invasive 'enhancement technologies': anti-ageing medicine, aesthetic surgery, cognitive and sexual enhancers, lifestyle drugs, prosthetics and hormone supplements. This collection focuses on why people find these practices so seductive and provides ethnographic insights into people’s motives and aspirations as they embrace or reject enhancement technologies, which are closely entangled with negotiations over gender, class, age, nationality and ethnicity.

Attitudes to fashion have changed radically in the twenty-first century. Dress is increasingly approached as a means of self-expression, rather than as a signifier of status or profession, and designers are increasingly treated as 'artists', as fashion moves towards art and enters the gallery, museum, and retail space. This book is the first to fully explore the causes and implications of this shift, examining the impact of technological innovation, globalization, and the growth of the internet. The End of Fashion focuses on the ways in which our understanding of fashion and the fashion system have transformed as mass mediation and digitization continue to broaden the way that contemporary fashion is perceived and consumed. Exploring everything from the rise of online shopping to the emergence of bloggers as power elites who have revolutionized the terrain of traditional fashion reportage, this volume anatomizes a world in which runway shows now compete with live-streaming, digital fashion films, Instagram, and Pinterest. Bringing together original, cutting-edge contributions from leading international scholars, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of fashion and cultural studies, as well as anyone interested in exploring the dramatic shifts that have shaken the fashion world this century – and what they might say about larger changes within an increasingly global and digital society.

From examining war cries to reflecting on counselling sessions, Clashing Wor(l)ds takes a multidisciplinary approach to investigating the role of communication in global, national, and personal conflicts.

The facilitator's guide brings to life the content of the survey text, Leadership Theory. It offers instructive advice on how to prepare for the use of a critical perspective as well as providing practical resources to translate survey text content to practice. The facilitator's guide consists of: An overview of how to use the guide as well as recommended skills and reflection questions for educators prior to implementing material. Objectives, critical concepts, a chapter overview, and a chapter framework for each chapter from Leadership Theory Lesson plan "walk-throughs" containing 2-3 activities for each chapter of the survey text, with information for learning outcomes, activity setup, and additional notes for facilitation.

This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2016. The ever-elusive field of Beauty Studies is one that often underappreciated, yet it is a key concept across all spheres of knowledge, transcending traditional and innovative epistemologies, and providing provocative insights into fundamental aspects of human existence. Here, researchers from around the globe contribute rich and diverse ideas and perspectives from a multitude of disciplines to highlight, explore, and re-evaluate the significance and infinite implications of this pervading topic, within history, science, society, culture, new media, mathematics, art, and literature.