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A general cycle of relations between the Department of Defense (DoD) and the university is described with particular reference to the social sciences and international studies: a general decline in amity since World War II, decreased support for DoD objectives, a concern for the effect of DoD priorities on the general research profile, the growth of in-house and nonacademic vendors in research and training, and the enclaving of the military-connected research community within the university. The pattern of DoD support for strategic studies, linguistics, and language and area studies is examined.

ObjectivesThis article provides an overview of how the interdisciplinary field of disaster studies contributes to the social sciences.MethodsThe following themes are explored in relation to the articles contained in the special issue: disasters are social and political phenomena that generate policy change, disasters reflect and affect democratic governance, and disasters reveal shared experience and collective identity.ResultsDisaster studies bridge the social sciences theoretically and methodologically. Given the scope of disaster impacts—across social, political, economic, ecological, and infrastructure spheres—and the policy response they garner involving public, private, and civic actors, they offer a lens by which to see society and politics in a way that no other critical events can.ConclusionDisaster studies offer important applications of social science theories and concepts that expand the field, broaden our reach as social scientists, and deepen our understanding of fundamental social processes and behaviors in meaningful ways.

The Book of Job has held a central role in defining the project of modernity from the age of Enlightenment until today. Why has Job`s response to disaster become a touchstone for modern reflections on catastrophic events? This volume engages this question and offers new perspectives on the tragic bent of the Book of Job, on its dramatic irony, on Job`s position as mourner, and the unique representation of the Joban body in pain.

This collection features essays by leading scholars on the philosophical, theological, poetic and cultural aspects of lament, touching on the textual traditions of lament in Judaism, from Biblical, rabbinic and medieval iterations to contemporary Yemenite oral lamentations. The volume also includes four texts on lament by Gershom Scholem, translated here for the first time into English, as well as essays interpreting Scholem`s challenging work.

This report is concerned with the contribution of political science to the instructional needs of those who are preparing to teach, and of those now teaching, the social studies in elementary and secondary schools. How can political scientists in colleges and universities maximize the contribution which they, as specialists in one large field of human knowledge, can make to enrich the teaching of the social studies? Before offering suggestions which, if applied generally, should provide at least a partial answer to the question, the Committee on the Social Studies states two assumptions. First, most political scientists can do more than they have done in the past. Second, reverse lend-lease is anticipated. Political scientists have much to learn from teachers of the social studies as to what methods are effective in enabling youth to learn the ways of democracy and what types of material are most useful in the learning process. The recommendations in this report are presented in the hope that coöperation between the two groups will become more extensive and regular. The recommendations are divided into four classes, according to the incidence of responsibility for carrying them into effect.