Editors' Note From Our Student Fellow and Editor ​ Concern for the environment is at an all time high: international organizations, companies, and individuals are overwhelmingly participating in the ecological movement that had been, until recently, overshadowed by globalization. Asrar’s Summer 2022 issue reflects this shift in global focus, featuring pieces which critically assess issues of the environment and ecology on a regional and global scale, as well as in popular films. In addition to this focus, the issue features a diverse range of insightful pieces ranging from topics such as artificial intelligence in judging panels, music education, and a visual adaptation of Elizabeth Bishop’s "One Art." The issue also features a photography section, which spotlights beautiful captures from around our home city, Sharjah. Most of all, this edition places a spotlight on our university’s students, who continue to produce thought-provoking research and art with every Asrar issue. Happy reading! Summer 2022 Student Editor, Ghofrane Lahib A Word From Our Faculty Adviser Welcome to our 2022 issue! We are proud to once again showcase the wonderful work produced by students attending the American University of Sharjah. As our student Fellow and editor outlines in her editorial, we wanted to feature research and writing that attends to the state of our environment. We hope these pieces are thought-provoking and function as drivers towards environmental sustainability, an issue that is very much front and center at the American University of Sharjah. As always, the pieces published represent work produced at a variety of levels in courses taken primarily in the Department of English. Some pieces are from composition courses at the 100 and 200 levels; other works come from more advanced literature and linguistics courses, including a senior seminar titled, “Environment and Literature,” taught by Professor Brian McAllister in Fall 2021. Though the primary language of instruction at our university is English, students here come from a variety of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Indeed, our university boasts representation from over ninety nationalities, and we repeatedly rank in the top three for diversity. The work here thus represents the writing of multilingual students whose primary language may not be English. This year, we are proud to also feature work from the Photography and Visual Representation course, taught by Professor Jason Carlow in the Department of Architecture. Not only do these photographs demonstrate the skills of our students, but they also show our beautiful city, of which we are proud to be a part. I would very much like to thank our student Fellow, Ghofrane Lahib, for taking on the work that editing this issue entailed. This was a tremendous effort that included web design and layout, which she completed as she was working on her Summer Session courses. I hope you enjoy the issue as much as we did putting it together. As always, happy reading! Dr. Maya Aghasi Asrar Faculty Adviser