2019

Somalia, a country located on the African continent’s easternmost extremity, maintains the highest rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the world, with ninety-eight percent of females enduring the procedure (Gele et al., 2013; UNICEF, 2013). Broadly defined as that which “…comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons,” the practice has been classified into four categories, varying in severity, by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2018, n.p.). Terminology employed in describing the practice ranges. Commonly, FGM is described as female genital cutting (FGC) or female circumcision (FC) within literary sources. For the purposes of this paper, the terminology of FGM will be utilized as it most accurately stresses the true nature of FGM – an inhumane practice violating basic human rights (Shetty, 2014; WHO, 2008).

Exoplanet research has progressed to where direct observations are not only possible, but effective. Data from exoplanet observations provide insight into planetary system dynamics and evolution, and can be representative of local solar system processes. If present, the study of exoplanet atmospheres can provide further information about a system’s composition and potential biosignatures. X-ray observations of exoplanets can detect atmospheric emission resulting from interaction with radiation and solar wind from the host star. The recently discovered terrestrial exoplanet, K Cancri b, is an excellent candidate for atmospheric analysis, due to similarities to the Earth–Sun system. Proposed observations with Chandra will attempt to detect, identify, and spectroscopically analyse K Cancri b’s atmosphere, if present, leading to further research.

George Eliot’s writings are quintessentially Victorian, adeptly weaving symbolism, characters, and social commentary into cohesive narratives. Arguably, George Eliot’s most accomplished work is her historical novel Romola (serialized in Cornhill Magazine 1862-3), a tale that, on account of its stringent research and attention to detail, successfully immerses readers into Renaissance Florence. Eliot portrays a complex, fictitious story unfolding concurrent to true events, enhancing historical verisimilitude through precise and careful employment of real-life places and personages. Eliot’s representation of setting and psychologically-genuine actors makes her narrative not just historically immersive, but aesthetically captivating. This fascination draws in readers, encouraging contemplation of Romola’s most important dimension, its didacticism. Although Eliot’s novel ostensibly focuses on the tumult of the old world, encapsulated by the neo-classical Florentine Republic, it is equally an observation on the novelist’s contemporary society. Apart from historical fiction, Romola is an ethical commentary on Victorian England, a nation caught between faith in traditional moral and social ideals, and faith in material fortune. Eliot, through Romola, recommends that the past’s morality be improved upon, not rejected.

Few places are as emotionally close yet physically distant as the island of Newfoundland and the battlefields of Beaumont-Hamel in northern France. The site of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment’s largest defeat in the First World War, Beaumont-Hamel is a location heavily intertwined with the collective memory of the people of Newfoundland. The French battlefield’s purchase and conversion into Beaumont-Hamel Memorial Park by the Government of Newfoundland in 1925, and its designation as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1996, indicate the specific narratives of remembrance that developed in twentieth century Newfoundland. This essay will argue that Beaumont-Hamel’s federal commemoration in 1996 is a marker of the changing perception of Newfoundland’s role in the First World War after its confederation with Canada in 1949. An overview of both the site itself and the battle that occurred there will precede a discussion on the changing perception of the site as a symbol of honour and national pride to one of grief and bitterness.