Summer 2025

Drawing on psychological research conducted during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this essay aims to explore the pandemic’s impact on the long-term psychological development of children. In specific this paper will focus on how stressful situations created by the pandemic can be translated into developmental challenges for children through the mediation of their parents, as well as social isolation due to lockdowns and their resultant obstruction proper social skill development.  Stressful situations experienced by parents (e.g. change in parents’ working conditions, loss of a loved one, diagnosis within the family, change in child’s routine and school) can translate into compromised parenting practices and ultimately disrupt children’s development of emotional regulation skills and healthy attachment patterns. Additionally, prolonged periods of social isolation from school lockdowns have limited children’s exposure to interactions with their peers and teachers, depriving many of the necessary conditions for healthy socioemotional development. Through the examination of these factors, this essay will prove the left long-lasting developmental imprints the COVID-19 pandemic has left on the psychological growth of an entire generation.

Political actions, such as domestic industrial policies and international trade agreements, have played a critical role in shaping the progress of a country’s indigenous technological innovation. This essay examines how political measures have influenced India’s efforts and results on investing in developing indigenous technologies, whether they have served to either facilitate or hinder progress. This analysis will focus on three aspects: government-led initiatives that have acted as catalysts for technological development, access of critical technologies restricted through geopolitical risks and imbalanced trade relations, and social barriers, such as the caste-based discrimination that further constrained the implementation of innovation policies. Through an investigation of cases and examples, these findings highlight the political measures that have played a double-edged role in shaping India’s development of indigenous technological innovations.

Walter Benjamin’s concept of the “aura” highlights the uniqueness and authenticity of an artwork, which he argues is diminished in the age of mechanical reproduction. Contemporary artists, however, often employ advanced lighting techniques, innovative ideas, and technology to revive or transform this aura into a meditative experience. As a result, I would term this trend “kabbalistic modernity,” a phrase adapted from Leon Wieseltier in the preface to the book Illuminations, which I define as the use of innovative and contemporary techniques to provoke spiritual philosophy. I have chosen four field sites to explore this trend teamLab Borderless: an interactive digital installation, James Turrell’s interactive digital installations at Museum SAN, Hiroshi Sugimoto's architecture Enoura Observatory, and Tadao Ando’s architecture Space of Light. More specifically, some of the artworks evoke what I would call a “mundane divine” experience: a sense of the sacred that arises from simplicity and nature, enhanced by lighting and abstract tactility. This creates an almost tangible feeling of touch without actual physical interaction, blending the internal and external worlds. In these installations, viewers perceive light as both an external stimulus and an internal emotional resonance, where the boundaries between the self and the outside environment dissolve.

This essay explores how generative AI is reshaping societal perceptions of beauty. It argues that AI reinforces unrealistic beauty standards by promoting idealized, youth-centered images, contributing to increased cosmetic surgery demand and mental health issues. Drawing on expert commentary and case studies, it highlights racial and gender biases in AI systems and the repetitive, homogenized nature of AI-generated content. Despite this, the essay anticipates a cultural shift toward authentic, diverse human beauty as AI’s influence plateaus. Drawing on Martin Heidegger’s concept of "enframing," it suggests that an attitudinal change toward technology, one that values contemplation alongside convenience, can help resist reductive standards. Ultimately, the essay calls for a balanced coexistence with AI that upholds the dignity, diversity, and mystery of human beauty in an increasingly digital world.