Fiction « Solomon Asch Center

Correlates of radical localism across American counties April 15, 2024 Juan MerizaldeChristopher Linebargera Independent Researcher, Arlington, VA, USAb School of Criminology, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA
Examining the counterinsurgency-counterterrorism tradeoff: the effects of targeted strikes on militant attacks February 26, 2024 Brittnee CarterThomas GuarrieriDaniel S. Smitha Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USAb National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USAc Department of Political Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USADr. Brittnee Carter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Kansas.Dr. Thomas Guarrieri is an Associate Research Scientist at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Global Terrorism Studies Minor at the University of Maryland.Daniel S. Smith is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at The Ohio State University.
Keeping up appearances: US domestic extremist organizations and the effects of membership on domestic terrorism perpetrators February 13, 2024 Andrew VitekDepartment of Political Science, Penn State University, University Park, USA
International kidnapping by non-state actors: Exploring the relationship between political predictors and the selection of victims January 26, 2024 Kathryn M. LambertDepartment of National Security, American Military University Online, USA
Foreign fighters from the far right and extreme left in the Russia–Ukraine conflict January 23, 2024 Nicola GuerraItalian Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Unmanned Vehicles in Fiction: “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

In the pilot episode of Marvel’s new TV show, the protagonists use a fleet of mini-quadrotors to inspect and map a crime scene. While the miniaturization and capabilities shown are beyond current technology, the idea of using unmanned vehicles to map crime or disaster scenes is not.

Elysium (2013)

In Blomkamp’s Science Fiction parable of economic inequality, unmanned vehicles of all kinds are used to control, police, and oppress the protagonist and others. The most common use of unmanned vehicles in fiction has been – like this film – as tools of the antagonists and obstacles.

“Watchbird” by Robert Sheckley, 1953

An early vision of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, used in-story to prevent murder across the country. The story posits a great success for that original goal, but raises questions about unintended consequences, the wisdom of autonomous decision-making, and perhaps (allegorically) scope creep.

Published by the University of Texas Press the book features 100 of Hyman's photographs and six critical essays that depict and discuss the emotional aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks -- a time when people from all walks of life created and encountered memorials to those who were murdered. Vernacular art appeared almost everywhere—on walls, trees, playgrounds, vehicles, houses, tombstones, and even on bodies. This outpouring of grief and other acts of remembrance impelled photographer Jonathan Hyman to document and preserve these largely impermanent, spontaneous expressions. This book, a unique archive of 9/11 public memory, is the result of his compiling a collection of 20,000 photographs, along with field notes and personal interviews. For more information about the book or to purchase it, visit the book's page at Amazon or Facebook.

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Unmanned Vehicles in Fiction: “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Elysium (2013)

“Watchbird” by Robert Sheckley, 1953

New book by Asch Associate Director for Conflict and Visual Culture Jonathan Hyman: “The Landscapes of 9/11: A photographer’s Journey”