During the last few years, the concept of generic skills and competences has become widespread across universities. An introduction to generic competences is, as such, important because it enables redefinition of educational goals and may positively rearrange forms of interaction in classes. It also indicates that education should inspire students to develop and use critical and creative forms of thinking, feeling and doing. On the one hand, the need to promote generic skills can be seen as driven by neoliberal desire. On the other, however, generic competences can enable students to think, feel and act differently, but also respect and welcome various forms of life and ways of living. Responding to the growing need to reflect upon generic competences, this book contributes to the various ways of conceptualising generic skills and the methods in which they might be acquired. The volume engenders adventurous encounters between different theories, which predominantly come from the feminist conceptual framework, that result in appealing meanings of affect and concepts. It also experimentally explores and discusses ways in which theories of affect and concepts may complicate understanding of generic competences and inspire generic skills-oriented education. Consequently, this collection revitalizes the concept of generic skills, but also advocates daring pedagogical practices that invigorate the meaning of and approach to teaching and learning in present landscapes of higher education.

The essays in this book examine various manifestations of monstrosity in the early literatures of England, Ireland and Scandinavia. The dates of the texts discussed range from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries and were written either in Latin or in one of the vernaculars. The present contributions shed light on the physical, mental and metaphysical qualities that characterize medieval monsters in general. How do such creatures relate to accepted physical norms? How do their behaviours deviate from established cultural practices? How can their presence in both fictional and non-fictional texts be explained either in terms of a textual tradition or as a response to actual events? Such issues are examined from literary, philological, theological, and historical points of view in order to provide a thorough, multifaceted depiction of the sub- and supernatural monsters of medieval Northwest Europe.

The field of monster studies has grown significantly over the past few years and this companion provides a comprehensive guide to the study of monsters and the monstrous from historical, regional and thematic perspectives. The collection reflects the truly multi-disciplinary nature of monster studies, bringing in scholars from literature, art history, religious studies, history, classics, and cultural and media studies. The companion will offer scholars and graduate students the first comprehensive and authoritative review of this emergent field.

This text presents interdisciplinary perspectives on blurring the boundaries between monsters and ourselves.

This open access handbook, the first of its kind, provides a comprehensive and carefully curated multidisciplinary and genre-spanning view of the state of the field of Critical Menstruation Studies, opening up new directions in research and advocacy. It is animated by the central question: ‘“what new lines of inquiry are possible when we center our attention on menstrual health and politics across the life course?” The chapters—diverse in content, form and perspective—establish Critical Menstruation Studies as a potent lens that reveals, complicates and unpacks inequalities across biological, social, cultural and historical dimensions. This handbook is an unmatched resource for researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and activists new to and already familiar with the field as it rapidly develops and expands.