Contributors explore the intertextuality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, illuminating its ability to both interpret and influence audiences and culture.

The sustained popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and its continued ability to spark fan and cultural responses with each phase of the franchise - achieving both commercial and critical acclaim in its quest to transform a once-niche genre into a pop culture powerhouse - demonstrate the vast potential it holds to convey, channel, and challenge existing discourses of culture, society, politics, entertainment, and education at their various intersection/s. While the franchise relies heavily on genre-based tropes of good versus evil, the intricate intertextuality of the extended universe offers a diversity in character, story, and setting that renders it a particularly deep well for crafting and communicating culture.
An interdisciplinary roster of contributors has selected a wide range of MCU texts, from series like She-Hulk and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to feature films including Captain Marvel (2019) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), to offer critical interrogations through varied lenses across four thematic sections of the volume: political economy and politics; gender studies and feminisms; race, ethnicity, and identity; and symbols and signs. Through their analyses, contributions to this volume ask us to reflect on what messages may be uncovered and understood through deeper interrogation of the texts that entertain and inform us.

Visual Vestiges explains how information design evolved over the centuries to make practical information clear, credible, and emotionally engaging.

In Visual Vestiges Charles Kostelnick analyzes the role of the past in understanding, studying, deploying, and teaching visual language in business, technical, and professional communication. He explores how information designs-text, pictures, icons, charts, and graphs-evolved to develop their rhetorical power and the many ways in which their vestigial forms permeate contemporary design. To explain these temporal dynamics, he examines the forces that underpin them: cultural shifts in aesthetics, taste, and values; social changes that redefine how we relate to one another rhetorically; and innovations in technology that transform the tools and channels we use to visualize and interpret information. Drawing on rhetorical theory, design studies, art history, and historical and contemporary examples, Kostelnick explores the rhetorical role of time in bridging past and present design forms-by constantly regenerating them through visual conventions, by heightening pathos appeals through sentiment and nostalgia, and by bolstering ethos, amplifying epideictic displays, and narrating stories with text, pictures, and charts.

Contrary to popular belief, the internet is not making us stupid or lazy or subjecting us to algorithmic domination. Devin Proctor contends that it is instead changing the way we perceive our bodies, our social worlds, and our identities along a spectrum of virtuality.
Proctor conceptualizes the internet as a social space, arguing for a return to spatial understandings of the digital. The reality of this space, he posits, is co-produced through our interaction with human and non-human agents - bots, AI programs, and algorithms - that exist alongside us in a field of internet presence.
From video calls to anonymous chat forums, Proctor traces progressive levels of virtual emplacement to interrogate the embodied forms we take across digital contexts and the ways in which these forms influence communication and identity. He draws on years of digital ethnographic fieldwork among the Otherkin community - a group of people who largely socialize online and internally identify as non-human - to complicate conventional notions about our relationships with the virtual, our understandings of the Self, and what it means to be human.

Coolness and emotional self-discipline once shaped the world of sports, but recently something has shifted. Tennis legends cry. Soccer stars cry. Basketball MVPs cry. "Emotional moments" seem to be omnipresent. In close readings of tearful moments and gestures, this book explores scenes on the sidelines, at press conferences, and during acceptance speeches. It examines how contemporary media represent outbursts and breakdowns and the larger role crying athletes play in what scholars call the "Age of Emotions." Case studies include Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe, Serena Williams and Andrea Petkovic, American basketball megastars, and Roger Federer; the essay discusses celebrity athletes as representative figures whose vulnerability and sentimentality force us to reexamine our own tears.

The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. The text has subsequently been revised by the author in collaboration with a professional copy editor in order to refine the work stylistically.

This book explores what is required to adopt an inclusive approach to emergency communications in multilingual and multicultural societies. The increased frequency and severity of emergencies such as floods, fires and heatwaves is occurring at the same time that complex migration patterns are producing diverse multilingual and multicultural populations. This convergence raises two crucial questions: What does best practice now look like in emergency communications? And what are the barriers to doing this well?

Drawing on multidisciplinary expertise and reflecting on interviews with people from migrant and refugee backgrounds, the arguments engage with the role and limitations of new technologies in emergency communication, as well as the challenges of social inclusion of vulnerable populations during emergency situations. This research offers important conceptual insights as well as practical guidance for leaders involved in emergency planning and disaster risk reduction.

This book examines coastal ecologies under the growing pressures of climate change and climate-related disasters. It explores coastal vulnerability, disaster risk reduction, resilience, and socio-ecological sustainability. Bringing together theory, policy discussion, and empirical case studies, the book highlights how coastal communities, ecosystems, and governance systems respond to climate risks and environmental changes.

The book is organized into five parts. The first part introduces key ideas related to climate disasters and socio-ecological vulnerability in coastal regions. The second part discusses coastal resilience and management strategies, including infrastructure resilience, risk perception, communication and early warning systems, ecosystem-based adaptation, and community participation. The third part focuses on policy frameworks, sustainable coastal management, and future challenges in reducing climate-related risks. The fourth part highlights participatory research approaches and field experiences from coastal communities in the Global South. The final part presents case studies demonstrating the use of geographic information systems, community knowledge, nature-based solutions, and participatory planning in coastal disaster risk reduction.

The book enhances disaster policy planning by integrating coastal community perspectives into geographic analysis, benefiting policy planners, scientists, researchers, professionals, students and those working in disaster studies.

The definitive guide to building, managing, and scaling a venture capital firm

Now in its fourth edition, The Business of Venture Capital: Building a Venture Firm, Investing in Startups, and Driving Returns delivers human insight and wisdom that generative AI cannot replicate. Authors Mahendra Ramsinghani and Tim Hsia draw on decades of hands-on experience to explain the multiple facets of venture capital, from raising funds to structuring investments to evaluating exit strategies.

This updated edition features new coverage of global geographic trends in venture capital and comprehensively refreshed data examining ten-year, seven-year, and five-year investment cycles. The book walks readers through generating consistent returns, building portfolio management systems, and navigating the complex dynamics of limited partner and general partner relationships in today's evolving market landscape.

Readers will also find:

• Updated analysis of worldwide VC trends at the macro level, revealing what's happening in venture capital markets across different regions

• Practical guidance on fund formation, deal structuring, and portfolio construction drawn from the authors' combined experience investing in dozens of startups

• Insights into evaluating exit strategies including IPOs, SPACs, and strategic acquisitions based on real portfolio outcomes and current market conditions

• A framework for understanding investment cycles and timing decisions aligned with the typical six to seven year venture fund lifecycle

• Expert perspectives refined through speaking engagements, executive education programs, and contributions to leading technology and finance publications

Essential for aspiring and practicing venture capitalists, limited partners evaluating fund investments, entrepreneurs seeking to understand investor perspectives, and finance professionals transitioning into venture capital, The Business of Venture Capital provides an authoritative foundation for building a successful career in startup investing.

Optimize your brand visibility for AI-powered search engines and large language models

In The New Rules of AI Search: SEO for visibility in ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Generative Search, Crystal Carter delivers a practical guide to optimizing brand visibility across AI-powered platforms. As large language models transform how consumers discover products and services, traditional SEO strategies require fundamental updates to remain effective in this new search paradigm.

The New Rules of AI Search explores the technical and strategic dimensions of generative engine optimization. Crystal Carter examines how AI search platforms aggregate and present information differently than traditional search engines, providing actionable frameworks for ensuring your brand appears prominently when users query ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and similar platforms for recommendations and information.

Readers will also discover:

• Specific techniques for structuring content that AI systems can easily understand, cite, and recommend to users seeking information
• Strategies for building brand authority signals that large language models recognize and prioritize in their generated responses
• Methods for monitoring and measuring your brand's visibility across multiple AI search platforms and generative interfaces
• Practical approaches for adapting existing SEO infrastructure to meet the unique requirements of AI-powered discovery channels
• Frameworks for anticipating future developments in generative search and positioning your brand ahead of algorithmic changes

Essential for digital marketers, SEO professionals, brand managers, and business owners seeking to maintain competitive visibility, this guide provides the strategic foundation for succeeding as AI fundamentally transforms how consumers search for and discover information online.

Ben Peterson explores the erosion of communal self-governance in contemporary American society and its consequences: rising social disorder and increased dependence on formal institutions such as policing and incarceration.
Drawing on thinkers such as Elinor and Vincent Ostrom, Russell Kirk, Glenn C. Loury, and James Q. Wilson, Peterson investigates the concept of the "social commons"-the shared moral and relational space we inhabit and shape through norms and actions. Arguing that restoring the social commons requires informal mechanisms of governance that cultivate virtue and mutual accountability, Peterson critiques both abolitionist and punitive paradigms, advocating instead for a middle path rooted in a character-centered approach to community life. He highlights the unique role of religious communities-especially Christian congregations-as vital sanctuaries of moral order capable of renewing the social fabric and offering hope amid chaos.
Listen to the author discuss the book with Dr. Glenn Loury on the Glenn Show here: https://tinyurl.com/3534j8xh.

This book is a comprehensive guide for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals seeking to integrate sustainability into their operations while fostering innovation. As global challenges like climate change and social inequality become more pressing, businesses must adapt by prioritising environmental and social responsibility without sacrificing profitability. This book explores how businesses can innovate to achieve sustainability in a rapidly changing world.

The book covers essential topics that address the most significant issues facing businesses today while showcasing emerging trends and solutions. It begins with exploring sustainability's core concepts, emphasising the transformation of traditional business practices through technology, strategic collaborations, and changing consumer behaviours.

The book's central themes are Supply Chain Transparency and Strategic Supplier Partnerships. It examines how businesses can ensure ethical sourcing, reduce environmental impacts, and foster resilient supplier relationships. Transparency builds trust, reduces inefficiencies, and encourages innovation in sustainable logistics.

In the digital era, M-commerce and E-commerce Business Sustainability are crucial topics. The book explores how mobile commerce and online platforms can prioritise sustainability in a tech-driven retail landscape. It highlights how businesses can use technologies like AI, blockchain, and data analytics to enhance customer experience while minimising environmental impact.

This book offers actionable insights for corporate executives, start-up entrepreneurs, and policymakers, providing the tools necessary to create value through sustainable innovation. By presenting sustainability as a key driver of business success, it encourages readers to rethink how they operate and engage with the world, positioning sustainability as essential for the future of business.

Secession is never easy, and should never be undertaken lightly; previous secession movements have led to instability, hardship, and sometimes violence. Nonetheless, secession is bound up with the ideals of self-determination and the liberal commitment to rule by the consent of the governed. It is the underlying moral legitimacy of arguments regarding self-determination that often undergird secessionist movements since, as this book argues, secession can be morally justified. The difficulty is determining when and how it is justified.

This book offers an account that begins with the metaphysical nature of social relations at the root of self-determination. This account reveals that while the ideal of self-determination grants secession a moral grounding, those same ideals of self-determination require a process that is deliberate and accounts for cross-cutting obligations. It then considers the cases of Quebec, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Scotland to apply the theory to reality.

Murano has historically been one of the most important handicraft districts in Italy due to its tradition of glassmaking, giving rise to a unique local economy and highly specialised workers. While art historians have made numerous contributions to the study of this reality, less active have been scholars of economic history, business and management. With rare exceptions, the existing literature lacks an investigation of the factory, processes and workforce behind the creation of value in this ancient production tradition. Characterised as a work of oral history, this book is a prosopography based on the stories of four witnesses in various historic glassmaking factories, recorded through a series of long and repeated interviews.

The aim is not to provide an exhaustive description of the dynamics of glass making, but rather to offer an interpretation of certain aspects of the field through the experiences and reflections of people who have worked in it for a long time. This book puts the stories, as told by witnesses, at the centre, inverting the traditional role between collection and restitution of data that usually characterizes academic publications. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of crafts and creative industry studies, business history and organisation studies, as well as all those with an interest in Murano glass.

U.S. political history is often told through certain perspectives. Whether that is of certain personalities, presidential elections, or political crises, the history of American politics around administrations, ideological conflicts, and pivotal moments, treating each era as distinct. But often these histories fail to compare causes and consequences across time, confusing correlation with causation, mistaking anecdotes for drivers.

This book provides an analytic history of American politics from 1763 to 2024. Focused on conscious efforts to shape public policy, Byron Shafer and Regina Wagner guide their readers through 260 years by relying on four analytical categories that span across the timeline of this narrative. Leveraging analyses of social cleavages, intermediary organizations, governmental institutions, and the policymaking process, the authors are thus able to compare and contrast the efforts to effect policy in different eras and within different contexts. With this new perspecting on American politics, Shafer and Wagner help us better understand our past and contextualize our present.

This book examines one of the deepest paradoxes of Colombia's transition: how a peace agreement and its most innovative institution, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), came to divide the nation so profoundly, even as international institutions and experts hailed it as a pioneering model of transitional justice. Part 1 provides historical context for Colombia's long search for peace, the creation of the SJP, and explains why it generated fear, anger, and political backlash across broad sectors of society. Part 2 centres on the nearly 9 million victims who have borne the gravest consequences of the conflict, through an in-depth analysis of two major SJP macro-cases involving all principal conflict actors. Part 3 examines both the transformative power and the jurisdictional limits of the SJP, especially its uneven capacity to reach the full range of actors implicated in the conflict. The book ultimately asks whether the SJP's attempt to construct a comprehensive judicial truth can do more than illuminate the past: can it also help narrow the moral and political divide between victims and sectors of the elites that benefited, directly or indirectly, from the conflict? Drawing on extensive fieldwork, interviews, primary sources, media, social media, local knowledge, and first-hand observation, this book offers a critical and original account of the SJP as one of the most ambitious efforts anywhere to reinvent justice after mass atrocity.

This book shows how societal and cultural features may manifest themselves through translation practice across English-Greek-Russian, verbally and multimodally. It is a collection of papers which tackles how messages shift in contexts with a gradually diminishing participation of image and sound to construct intended social identities. It sheds light on how remakes perform transfer, how messages are transferred in dubbed and fan-subbed TV series, and how covers, in print translated versions of novels, manifest a shifting societal context in their attempt to establish contact with a new audience. Transfer is examined both cross-culturally and intra-culturally through translation practice. This book is relevant to academics, translation practitioners and students who are interested in pragmatic meaning transfer, in varied language contexts. It will also enlighten foreign language teachers as to what pragmatic aspects of transfer they should draw learners' attention to, to improve communicative competence.