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For millions of people around the world, the condition of protracted refugee-ness and exile-ness is a daily reality. We navigate three different temporal worlds: our past socio-cultural, historical, and political roots; our present experience with conflict and displacement, loss, grief, and trauma; and our future dreams, hopes, and plans for ourselves and our homelands. While navigating these temporal worlds, we constantly remember, renegotiate, reimagine, and reconstruct home, belonging, identity, and homeland. This thesis focuses on Syrian exiled academics residing in the UK and their experience of exile. It aims to unpack their complex belonging to their homeland and the dilemmas they encounter in exile. It also explores their potential future roles in Syrian higher education (HE), the barriers they confront in engaging with Syria, and the motivations driving them to contribute to the context with which they have a complicated relationship. The thesis is situated at the intersection of forced migration, education in conflict contexts, diaspora engagement with homeland, and peacebuilding. It reviews the broad literature in these disciplines and the relevant contextual literature on Syria. As I have direct and personal experience of exile, I have employed a heuristic phenomenological framework that has guided all aspects of the research. Heuristic research does not exclude the researcher from the study; the self is present throughout the process, allowing for self-exploration, self-discovery, and reflexive self-dialogue to delve into the subjective experience of the exile phenomenon. Given the emphasis on relationality, intersubjectivity, and betweenness in heuristic methodology, I have conducted dialogues and interviews with 15 Syrian academics living in exile to explore the multifaceted experience of exile. The research findings indicate that exile has a dual nature, encompassing both positive and negative aspects. The experience of exile seems to begin with a sense of alienation felt at home, which becomes formalised through forced separation from home and is continuously relived through the loss of and inability to return home. The study argues that three interconnected dimensions—practical, emotional, and compatibility—help understand the evolving dynamics of exiled academics belonging to their homeland. The research also delves into the main factors influencing exiled academics’ belonging, including the impact of the war in Syria, their work on Syria, social media, prior experiences in Syria, connections with Syrians in exile, and having family in Syria. Furthermore, the study explores five dilemmas that exiled academics face. These are what help people in exile also trigger their traumas, living between two extremes of emotions when one’s homeland does not feel like a home anymore, missing what no longer exists, and wanting to connect with their homeland but also disconnect. As for exiled academics’ contribution to Syrian higher education, the thesis proposed analysing their contribution on three interconnected levels: students, teachers, and academic institutions levels. The motivation driving the engagement of exiled academics in education development is rooted in four key factors: a strong sense of belonging and identity, a deep belief in the power of education, a strong sense of duty and responsibility, and a complex mix of emotions encompassing guilt, love, sadness, empathy, and hope. Finally, the thesis emphasises the importance of comprehensively analysing the barriers exiled academics face to contribute to HE development. These barriers exist across six interconnected levels: political, HE, individual, exile dynamics, local dynamics, and logistical levels.

Much of the discourse on aesthetic theory can be articulated around an emerging artistic discipline called paleoart. The kitsch phenomenon, which has been extensively discussed in the realm of general art theory, can intrude into areas where aesthetic significance is present. One of these areas is within the framework of paleoart and the artistic reconstructions of the distant past. Although the coordinates of this discipline are highly regulated—relying on other areas of knowledge that converge to reveal the appearance of a lost world—paleoart cannot escape the increasingly widespread loss of the aura of the artwork that Walter Benjamin proclaimed. Paleoart has also not been spared from the ethics and morals of its time, nor from the intrusion of the playful and the lack of original significance as a transfer of scientific knowledge. And it is through this blurry film that kitsch operates to stay. We would then be right to speak of a new term: paleokitsch.

This research explores artworks as agential forces through New Materialism, challenging traditional anthropocentric perspectives by recognizing materials' active roles in artmaking. Grounded in theories by Merleau-Ponty, Karen Barad, and Jane Bennett, it redefines materiality as co-constitutive of art, emphasizing the interconnected agency between artist and material. Utilizing a diffractive methodology inspired by Barad, the study navigates material-discursive entanglements, highlighting how artworks enact dynamic interplays of forces. This approach not only enriches the creative process but also foregrounds art's potential to engage with socio-cultural and ecological dimensions, advocating for a postanthropocentric creative paradigm. The findings advocate for recognizing materials’ agential capacities within art practices, suggesting a shift towards inclusive narratives that underscore the ethical implications of our material engagements. By reimagining art's agency, this study contributes to the discourse on New Materialism, proposing an aesthetics that embraces the interconnectedness of human and non-human actors, thereby offering new insights into the transformative potentials of art in contemporary challenges.

This analysis investigated the representation of characters in the cinematic work “Lion.” Used various kinds of politeness strategies. This study aims to analyze the positive and negative politeness strategies used by characters from Australia and India, in addition to determine the factors that shape these strategies. This study applies a qualitative approach. As a result, the conversations in the movie are carefully transcribed and analyzed descriptively through the perspective of politeness theory (Brown, 2020) and s cross-cultural pragmatics (Wierzbicka, 2009) to identify the influence of the characters' cultural backgrounds on their strategic communication choices. The conversations that occur between the Australian and Indian characters in the film serve as a valuable repository of information, that includes both positive and negative politeness strategies. To obtain the data, the researcher uses a few processes, including watching the movie, taking notes, and choosing conversations in which the actors use both positive and negative politeness strategies frequently. The findings of this study reveal that a total of 121 sentences were classified as either negative or positive politeness, with 68 instances identified as negative politeness and 53 as positive politeness strategies. The application of both negative and positive politeness strategies articulated by the characters is primarily influenced by their cultural context.

This document is the accepted version of a paper that will be published soon. Abstract: The study of connectivity and interaction in the Mediterranean world is a rich and vibrant topic. While most direct attestations of past interaction have been lost, we can use the ubiquity of material markers such as ceramic tablewares to trace the structures and underlying drivers of past networks. In this paper, we use an innovative combination of least cost path analysis and mutual information to explore the relative contributions of geographical proximity and potential social, economic, and political factors underlying the distributions of material culture. We apply this method to a case study using the ICRATES dataset of tablewares from the eastern Mediterranean in late Hellenistic and early Roman times (150 BCE – 50 CE). By exploring the multifaceted factors shaping these distributions, we enrich our understanding of ancient economies and trade networks, as well as provide further insight into broader questions of (cultural) exchange and power dynamics in the ancient world. Through this novel approach, we hope to pave the way for future research endeavours that seek to unravel the intricate threads of connectivity shaping past and present human societies.

Abstract In the field of aviation, English language proficiency is essential for ensuring clear communication and safe flight operations. Effective assessment of pilots’ and air traffic controllers’ aviation English (AE) proficiency is, therefore, crucial. Conventional AE proficiency assessments, while effective, face limitations in scalability, objectivity, and feedback mechanisms. This article reviews the advancements and effectiveness of AI-driven assessment tools for AE proficiency testing, highlighting their potential to overcome these limitations. The review encompasses AI technologies such as automated speech recognition (ASR), natural language processing (NLP), and intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) in the light of the language proficiency requirements stated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Overall, the present review concludes that AI-driven tools provide accurate, reliable, and immediate feedback, significantly improving learners' AE proficiency. Despite challenges such as speech recognition errors and ethical concerns, these tools offer scalable and accessible solutions for large aviation training programs. The review concludes with recommendations for future research, emphasizing the need for continued innovation to address technological limitations and enhance adaptive learning environments. This review offers valuable insights for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) practitioners and stakeholders in the aviation industry.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the connection between academic self-perception and academic achievement of seventh-grade secondary school students in English courses. Additionally, the study aims to explore the relationship between various demographic factors and academic achievement in English. A predictive correlational research design and causal comparison methods were employed. The sample consisted of 906 volunteer seventh-grade students from public secondary schools in Altıeylül and Karesi, Balıkesir Province. The 19-item, 4-point Likert-type "Academic Self-Perception Scale," developed by Liu, Wang, and Parkins (2005), was adapted into Turkish by the researchers for this study. An original measurement tool was also utilized to assess achievement in English language courses. Demographic variables were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, and structural equation modeling. Pearson correlation analysis, simple linear regression analysis, and stepwise multiple hierarchical regression analysis were applied to determine the relationship between academic self-perception and achievement in English language courses. Results indicated a significant, positive, and moderate relationship between academic self-perception and achievement in English language courses. Regression analysis revealed that academic self-perception significantly predicts achievement in English language courses. Furthermore, achievement in English language courses varied significantly based on the variables of having a study room and the father's level of education.

The basic structure of posters is to create awareness about the subject or message it wants to convey by transferring the thought structure about a subject to the target audience. It provides preliminary information about the message it will deliver by presenting clear and distinct visuals to the audience it wants to deliver its message. The fact that humanity has brought technological developments to an advanced level day by day has enabled poster structures to present messages that emphasize visual and aesthetic elements to the audience in a comfortable way. Along with technical developments, visual culture has adapted to these developments and found its place in the world of visual feast. In this study, the texts and images in the movie poster of "Black Panther", one of the Oscar-winning films in 2019, are analyzed within the framework of aesthetic elements, aiming to reveal the hidden meanings beyond the facts presented explicitly. Thus, based on a movie poster, it is aimed to examine how the effects of technological developments on the social structure are created within the framework of visual elements and within which visual phenomena they are transferred to the white screen. In the analysis of the Black Panther movie poster, the purposive sampling model was used and the visuals and texts on the poster were analyzed with the semiotic analysis method in which Roland Barthes' plain meaning-side meaning dynamics were included. It was determined that the period was at a technologically advanced level in the clothing of the actors and technological indicators on the poster and it was concluded that the audience was informed in this context.