Could A Truth Commission Have Saved The Star Wars Universe From Another Conflict?

If only Desmond Tutu were here… Lucasfilm

By James Sweeney, Lancaster University

A brutal regime is at last brought to its knees, its key leaders start fighting among themselves, and the old tyrant is killed without trial. Libya in 2011? No: the world of Star Wars at the close of Return of the Jedi.

The latest film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released last week (in case you hadn’t noticed). It is set in precisely the sort of conflicted environment that we see when contemporary totalitarian regimes collapse, be it the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya or Egypt.

#LGBT - New Songs Make a Positive Statement for Transgender Artist [Video Included]

Rizi Timane -- recording artist, author, actor, and life coach to the transgender community -- has just released three new trans-affirmative singles: "Yeah! It Feels Good to Finally Be Me," "Let's Make Love," and "I'm Beautiful," all of which are available for download from iTunes and at www.rizitimane.com.

How Star Wars' Famous Title Sequence Survived Imperial Assaults

‘A long time ago …’

By Iain Macdonald, Edinburgh Napier University

At the beginning of the Star Wars movies, that famous typographic walkway has always been essential to the experience. It both echoed the silent movie era and was filled with futuristic vision. How thrillingly disorientating to read “A long time ago …” while looking out at what was not yet possible.

The great cinematic graphic designer Saul Bass once said that he “saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it”. Star Wars is one of the great examples of what he was talking about. Not surprisingly, it reappeared in all subsequent instalments. Yet the fact that no one has managed to wreck it along the way was by no means a sure thing.

A Force Awakened: Why So Many Find Meaning In Star Wars

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. 20th Century Fox

By Patti McCarthy, University of the Pacific

After witnessing the overwhelming popularity of Star Wars, director Francis Ford Coppola told George Lucas he should start his own religion.

Lucas laughed him off, but Coppola may have been onto something.

Indeed, the Star Wars saga taps into the very storytelling devices that have structured myths and religious tales for centuries. And with every new film, fans are able to reinforce their unique communities in a world that has grown, in many ways, increasingly isolated.

Show You Care and Help Canada Welcome Syrian Refugees [Video Included]

To help create a positive start, CARE Canada is asking Canadians to welcome Syrian refugees with a new online campaign.

UK: Give A Lost Teddy A New Home This Christmas For Charity

Airport launches campaign to rehome lost and unwanted teddies to help raise money for charity.
(PRNewsFoto/London City Airport)

Teddy bears give their owners unlimited love and hugs, but who's there to hug them when they get left behind?

People travelling through the airport often forget things such as belts, laptops and mobile phones, and sometimes their furry friends too. Some make it home, but some get forgotten. 

When staff at London City Airport found Ted in lost property, they started a campaign to get him home. The response they received from the public led them to create Adop-TED, a website for rehoming lost and unwanted teddies.