By Jeffrey Ian Ross, PhD When I try to master a subject or a skill, I often find that learning a complementary body of knowledge or task enhances my understanding of the original subject. …

November 12, 2023 by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. One of the most significant challenges that creative individuals and teams face involves the decisions they make about their projects. …

November 4, 2023 by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. Graffiti and street art have been a constant presence in the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people, both inside Israel and the Occupied Territories (i.e., West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights) and Gaza. Not only have Israelis and Palestinians…

October 28, 2023 by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. Several recurrent themes are present in Japanese films. One of them is references to food, cuisine, or washoku (i.e., traditional Japanese cooking). A great example within this genre is the 1985 comedy Tampopo, directed by Japanese filmmaker Juzo Itami. This movie (clocking…

October 21, 2023 by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. Somewhere deep inside of you, or at the back of your mind, a voice calls out, urging you to pursue a Ph.D. in Criminology/ Criminal Justice (CJ). Perhaps you like to binge on late-night TV shows featuring handsome, charismatic police officers and…

October 15, 2023 by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. Many films have been made about convicts, prisons, or set in American correctional facilities. On the one hand you have documentaries that provide a history of a particular correctional facility, a longstanding challenge, an incident or series of incidents (like a riot)…

October 7, 2023 by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. The streets, utility poles, and back alleys of large urban centers in most big cities are epicenters for all manner of graffiti and street art. Predictably this activity engenders lots of responses. Notwithstanding the longstanding desire by property owners, ghost buffers, and…

September 30, 2023 by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. In bustling urban environments various businesses exist, each selecting the locations where to operate based on factors like rent, profitability, and access to customers, suppliers, workers etc.. In addition to the more well-known and visible commercial entities (such as retail establishments), numerous…

September 21, 2023 by Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. One of the many questions Criminologists have, especially those aspiring to become university professors, is should they conduct research in collaboration with local criminal justice organizations? Satisfactorily answering this question is difficult and there is neither a single, nor a simple answer…