title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Also, some Nazi leaders had an interest in esotericism. Rudolf Hess had an interest in Anthroposophy. Heinrich Himmler showed a strong interest in esoteric matters.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: The esoteric Thule Society lent support to the German Workers' Party, which was eventually transformed into the Nazi Party in 1920. Dietrich Eckart, a remote associate of the Thule Society, actually coached Hitler on his public speaking skills, and while Hitler has not been shown to have been a member of Thule, he received support from the group. Hitler later dedicated the second volume of "Mein Kampf" to Eckart. The racist-occult doctrines of Ariosophy contributed to the atmosphere of the völkisch movement in the Weimar Republic that eventually led to the rise of Nazism.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: In the Appendix of "The Nazi Persecution of the Churches", Conway has included a document: "List of sects prohibited by the Gestapo up to December 1938." It mentions the "International Jehovah's Witness" under No.1, but also includes a so-called "Study group for Psychic Research" and even the "Bahai Sect."


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Astrologers, healers and fortune tellers were banned under the Nazis, while the small pagan "German Faith Movement", which worshipped the sun and the seasons, supported the Nazis.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Hitler called a truce to the Church conflict with the outbreak of war, wanting to back away from policies which were likely to cause internal friction inside Germany. He decreed at the outset of war that "no further action should be taken against the Evangelical and Catholic Churches for the duration of the war". According to John Conway, "The Nazis had to reckon with the fact that, despite all of Rosenberg's efforts, only 5 percent of the population registered themselves at the 1930 census as no longer connected with Christian Churches." The support of millions of German Christians was needed in order for Hitler's plans to come to fruition. It was Hitler's belief that if religion is a help, "it can only be an advantage". Most of the 3 million Nazi Party members "still paid the Church taxes" and considered themselves Christians. Regardless, a number of Nazi radicals in the party hierarchy determined that the Church Struggle should be continued. Following the Nazi victory in Poland, the repression of the Churches was extended, despite their early protestations of loyalty to the cause.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda issued threats and applied intense pressure on the Churches to voice support for the war, and the Gestapo banned Church meetings for a few weeks. In the first few months of the war, the German Churches complied. No denunciations of the invasion of Poland, or the Blitzkrieg were issued. On the contrary, Bishop Marahrens gave thanks to God that the Polish conflict was over, and "that He has granted our armies a quick victory." The Ministry for Church Affairs suggested that Church bells across Germany ring for a week in celebration, and that pastors and priests "flocked to volunteer as chaplains" for the German forces. The Catholic bishops asked their followers to support the war effort: "We appeal to the faithful to join in ardent prayer that God's providence may lead this war to blessed success for Fatherland and people." Likewise, the Evangelicals proclaimed: "We unite in this hour with our people in intercession for our Fuhrer and Reich, for all the armed forces, and for all who do their duty for the fatherland."


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Even in the face of evidence of Nazi atrocities against Catholic priests and lay people in Poland, which were broadcast on Vatican Radio, German Catholic religious leaders continued to express their support for the Nazi war effort. They urged their Catholic followers to "fulfill their duty to the Fuhrer". Nazi war actions in 1940 and 1941 similarly prompted the Church to voice its support. The bishops declared that the Church "assents to the just war, especially one designed for the safeguarding of the state and the people" and wants a "peace beneficial to Germany and Europe" and calls the faithful to "fulfill their civil and military virtues." But the Nazis strongly disapproved of the sentiments against war expressed by the Pope through his first encyclical, "Summi Pontificatus" and his 1939 Christmas message, and they were angered by his support for Poland and the "provocative" use of Vatican Radio by Cardinal Hlond of Poland. Distribution of the encyclical was banned.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Conway wrote that anti-church radical Reinhard Heydrich estimated in a report to Hitler dated October 1939, that the majority of Church people were supporting the war effort – although a few "well known agitators among the pastors needed to be dealt with". Heydrich determined that support from church leaders could not be expected because of the nature of their doctrines and their internationalism, so he devised measures to restrict the operation of the Churches under cover of war time exigencies, such as reducing the resources available to Church presses on the basis of rationing, and prohibiting pilgrimages and large church gatherings on the basis of transportation difficulties. Churches were closed for being "too far from bomb shelters". Bells were melted down. Presses were closed.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: With the expansion of the war in the east from 1941, there also came an expansion of the regime's attack on the churches. Monasteries and convents were targeted and expropriations of Church properties surged. The Nazi authorities claimed that the properties were needed for wartime necessities such as hospitals, or accommodations for refugees or children, but they instead used them for their own purposes. "Hostility to the state" was another common cause given for the confiscations, and the actions of a single member of a monastery could result in the seizure of the whole. The Jesuits were especially targeted. The Papal Nuncio Cesare Orsenigo and Cardinal Bertram complained constantly to the authorities but they were told to expect more requisitions owing to war-time needs.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Several elements of Nazism were quasi-religious in nature. The cult of Hitler as the "Führer", the "huge congregations, banners, sacred flames, processions, a style of popular and radical preaching, prayers-and-responses, memorials and funeral marches" have all been described by historians of esotericism such as Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke as "essential props for the cult of race and nation, the mission of Aryan Germany and her victory over her enemies." These different religious aspects of Nazism have led some scholars to consider Nazism, like communism, to be a kind of political religion.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Hitler's plan, for example, to erect a magnificent new capital in Berlin (Welthauptstadt Germania), has been described as his attempt to build a version of the New Jerusalem. Since Fritz Stern's classical study "The Politics of Cultural Despair", most historians have viewed the relationship between Nazism and religion in this way. Some historians see the Nazi movement and Adolf Hitler as fundamentally hostile to Christianity, though not irreligious. In the first chapter of "The Nazi Persecution of the Churches", historian John S. Conway elaborates that Christian Churches had lost their appeal in Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic, and Hitler responded to it by offering "what appeared to be a vital secular faith in place of the discredited creeds of Christianity."


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: Hitler's chief architect, Albert Speer, wrote in his memoirs that Hitler himself had a negative view of the mystical notions which were pushed by Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg. Speer quotes Hitler as having said of Himmler's attempt to mythologize the SS:


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: The scholar of fascism, Stanley Payne notes that fundamental to fascism was the foundation of a purely materialistic "civic religion" that would "displace preceding structures of belief and relegate supernatural religion to a secondary role, or relegate it to none at all", and "though there were specific examples of religious or would-be 'Christian fascists,' fascism presupposed a post-Christian, post-religious, secular, and immanent frame of reference." One theory is that religion and fascism could never have a lasting connection because both are a "holistic weltanschauung" claiming the whole of the person. Along these lines, Yale political scientist, Juan Linz and others have noted that secularization had created a void which could be filled by another total ideology, making secular totalitarianism possible, and Roger Griffin has characterized fascism as a type of anti-religious political religion.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: However, Robert Paxton finds that "Fascists often cursed ... materialist secularism" and he adds that the circumstances of past fascisms do not mean that future fascisms can not "build upon a religion in place of a nation, or serve as the expression of national identity. Even in Europe, religion-based fascisms were not unknown: the Falange Española, the Belgian Rexism, the Finnish Lapua Movement, and the Romanian Legion of the Archangel Michael are all good examples". Separately, Richard L. Rubenstein maintains that the religious dimensions of the Holocaust and Nazi fascism were decidedly unique.


title: Religion in Nazi Germany

text: A significant amount of literature about the potential religious aspects of Nazism has been published. Wilfried Daim suggests that Hitler and the Nazi leadership planned to replace Christianity in Germany with a new religion in which Hitler would be considered the messiah. In his book on the connection between Lanz von Liebenfels and Hitler, Daim published a reprint of an alleged document of a session on "the unconditional abolishment of all religious commitments (Religionsbekenntnisse) after the final victory (Endsieg) ... with a simultaneous proclamation of Adolf Hitler as the new messiah." This session report came from a private collection.


title: Danielle Colby

text: Danielle Colby (born December 3, 1975) is an American reality television personality who appears on the History reality television show "American Pickers".


title: Danielle Colby

text: Danielle Colby was born in Davenport, Iowa, and brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness. By 2004, she was married to Englishman Robert Strong with two children. Colby's television career eventually led to the breakup of her marriage. In May 2012, she told WQAD-TV that "fame and notoriety are not easy for him to deal with at all, so the relationship ended up not working out".


title: Danielle Colby

text: Colby owned and participated in a female roller derby team, the Big Mouth Mickies, for three years until injuries forced her to give it up.


title: Danielle Colby

text: While living with her family in Chicago, she attended a burlesque performance starring comedian Margaret Cho and dancer Satan's Angel. This prompted in her a desire to become a burlesque dancer; and, after she moved back with her family to the Quad Cities area of Iowa, she created the professional burlesque troupe "Burlesque Le Moustache", with nine performers, including Colby herself under the stage name Dannie Diesel, touring eastern Iowa and western Illinois. As of October 2014, Colby owned a burlesque academy called Dannie Diesel's Bump 'n' Grind Academy in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.


title: Danielle Colby

text: Colby had been a close friend of Mike Wolfe for a decade before the concept of the show had even been developed. Once the show was sold to the History Channel, Wolfe asked Colby to work at the office of the antique shop Antique Archaeology.


title: Danielle Colby

text: "American Pickers" premiered on the History Channel on January 18, 2010. As of September 8, 2010, it was the top rated non-fiction series of 2010 among total viewers and adults 25–54.


title: Danielle Colby

text: Colby owned and operated 4 Miles 2 Memphis, a retro clothing based company. A brick and mortar location opened on January 8, 2013 in the Wicker Park area of Chicago; however, it closed within a year.


title: Burgher people

text: Burgher people, also known simply as Burghers, are a small Eurasian ethnic group in Sri Lanka descended from Portuguese, Dutch, British and other European men who settled in Ceylon and developed relationships with native Sri Lankan women. The Portuguese and Dutch had held some of the maritime provinces of the island for centuries before the advent of the British Empire. With the establishment of Ceylon as a crown colony at the end of the 18th century, most of those who retained close ties with the Netherlands departed. However, a significant community of Burghers remained and largely adopted the English language. During British rule, they occupied a highly important place in Sri Lankan social and economic life.


title: Burgher people

text: Portuguese settlers on Ceylon were essentially traders but wished to form colonies, and Lisbon did nothing to discourage European settlement—even to the extent of advocating intermarriage with the Sinhalese. This was not encouraged by the Sinhalese. It was not the policy of the Dutch East India Company to endorse similar unions, although unofficial liaisons between its employees and local women occurred in the late eighteenth century.


title: Burgher people

text: Burghers may vary from generation to generation in physical characteristics; some intermarried with the British and produced descendants with predominantly European phenotypes, including fairer skin and a heavier physique, while others were almost indistinguishable from Sinhalese or Tamils. Most Burgher people have preserved European customs, especially those of Portuguese ancestry, who "retained their European religion and language with pride."


title: Burgher people

text: The Burghers were legally defined in 1883 by the Chief Justice of Ceylon, Sir Richard Ottley, given before the Commission, appointed in connection with the establishment of a legislative council in Ceylon. Burghers were defined as those whose father was born in Ceylon, with at least one European ancestor on one's direct paternal side, regardless of the ethnic origin of one's mother, or what other ethnic groups may be found on the father's side. Because of this definition, Burghers almost always have European surnames (mostly of Portuguese, Dutch and British origin, but sometimes German, French or Russian).


title: Burgher people

text: The Portuguese arrived in 1505 in what outsiders then called Ceylon. Since there were no women in the Portuguese navy, the Portuguese sailors married local Sinhalese and Tamil women. This practice was encouraged by the Portuguese.


title: Burgher people

text: The Dutch first made contact and signed a trade agreement with the Kingdom of Kandy in 1602. From 1640 on the Dutch East India Company (VOC) ('Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie' or "United East India Company") had a governor installed and conquered more and more forts from the Portuguese, until, in 1658, the last Portuguese were expelled. However, they permitted a few stateless persons of Portuguese-Jewish (Marrano) descent, and of mixed Portuguese-Sinhalese ancestry to stay. Many people having a Portuguese name were a result of forced conversions of local/native people to work for the Portuguese. As a result, Burghers with Portuguese names are most likely to be of Sinhalese ancestry, with a very small portion being Portuguese or mixed Portuguese-Sinhalese ancestry. Those of a Portuguese-Jewish background can be traced in various forms or surmised from their surname. Most Burghers of Eurasian descent with Portuguese surnames are of Sinhalese and Dutch, British, German and/or other European descent.


title: Burgher people

text: During the Dutch period, all Dutch colonial operations were overseen by the VOC. Virtually all Burghers from this period were employees of the VOC. The VOC employed not only Dutch nationals but also enlisted men from the Southern Netherlands, the German states, Denmark and Austria. It is therefore not unusual to find ancestors from these countries in many Dutch Burgher family trees.


title: Burgher people

text: The term 'Burgher' comes from the Dutch word "burger", meaning "citizen" or "town dweller", and is cognate with the French "bourgeois" and the English word "burgess". At this time in Europe, there had emerged a middle class, consisting of people who were neither aristocrats nor serfs. These were the traders and businessmen, who lived in towns and were considered free citizens. In Europe, they were called burghers, and they were encouraged to migrate to the colonies to expand business horizons.


title: Burgher people

text: Dutch Ceylon had two classes of people of European descent: those who were paid by the VOC and were referred to as Company servants (i.e. employees), and those who had migrated of their own free will. The latter were not referred to as burghers in Ceylon, but rather by their rank, position or standing.


title: Burgher people

text: During the period of British rule, they were referred to by the British as 'Dutch Burghers' and formed the majority of the European-descended populace residing in Ceylon. The 'Dutch Burgher' community took pride in its achievements and prized their European ancestry. Several Dutch Burgher Union journals have been created over some time, to record family histories. They were not only of Dutch origin as other European origins were apparent (German, Hungarian, Italian, French, Swedish, British, and Portuguese) and Sinhalese lines.


title: Burgher people

text: When the British took over in 1796, many VOC employees chose to leave. However, a significant number chose to stay, mostly those of mixed descent. Some chose to go to Batavia, which was the headquarters of the VOC. Reportedly about 900 families, both free citizens and Dutch East India Company employees, decided to remain in Ceylon. One condition of them being allowed to stay was that they had to sign a treaty of capitulation, which guaranteed they would remain loyal and not defect if the Dutch attempted to re-conquer Ceylon. Every Burgher remaining in Ceylon signed the treaty, which is commonly used by their descendants to trace their linage. In 1796, the 900 'Dutch Burgher' families residing in Ceylon were concentrated in Colombo, Galle, Matara and Jaffna.


title: Burgher people

text: The Burghers included members of the Swiss de Meuron Regiment, a Swiss mercenary unit employed by the VOC. In diplomatic negotiations in Europe, Count de Meuron pledged allegiance to the British in exchange for back pay and military information. This allowed the British to get detailed fortification information and reduce the garrison size of Ceylon before 1796. The de Meuron Regiment refused to fight the Dutch due to relationships forged on the island of Ceylon and South Africa with the British. Post-1796 members of the de Meuron Regiment stayed in Ceylon, whilst the regiment itself went off to fight and distinguish itself in India and later in Canada.


title: Burgher people

text: In the census of 1981, the Burgher population of Sri Lanka was 39,374 persons, about 0.2% of the total population. The highest concentration of Burghers is in Colombo (0.72%) and Gampaha (0.5%). There are also significant communities in Trincomalee and Batticaloa, with an estimated population of 20,000.


title: Burgher people

text: Burgher descendants are spread throughout the world. Families with surnames such as Van Dort (or the variant Vandort) are of Dutch ancestry.


title: Burgher people

text: Nowadays Burgher people predominantly speak Sinhala. Until the early 20th century, many Burghers spoke English and Sri Lankan Portuguese creole, even those of Dutch descent. Portuguese Creole had been the language of trade and communication with Sri Lankans. It is now spoken only in parts of the coastal towns of Trincomalee and Batticaloa. While much vocabulary is from Portuguese, its grammar is based on that of Tamil and Sinhala.


title: Burgher people

text: Depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, Burghers may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census, 73.6% or 24,412 Burghers also spoke English and 38.4% or 12,738 Burghers also spoke Tamil.


title: Burgher people

text: Burgher culture is a mixture of East and West, reflecting their ancestry. They are the most Europeanised of the ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. Most of them wear modern contemporary clothing, although it is not uncommon for a man to be seen wearing a "sarong", or for a woman to wear a "sari".


title: Burgher people

text: Several elements in Burgher culture have become part of the cultures of other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. For example, "baila" music, which has its origin in the music of 16th-century Portugal, has found its way into mainstream popular Sinhalese music. Lacemaking, which began as a domestic pastime of Burgher women, is now a part of Sinhalese culture too. Even certain foods, such as love cake, breudher, "bol fiado" (layered cake), "ijzer koekjes" (iron cookies), "frikkadels" (savoury meatballs) and lamprais, have become an integral part of Sri Lankan national cuisine.


title: Burgher people

text: Burghers are not physically homogeneous. It is possible to have a blond, pale white-skinned Burgher, as well as a Burgher with a very dark complexion and black hair, a Burgher with complexion from brown to light brown and black hair, and a Burgher with fairer complexion and black hair. Pale-skinned and dark-skinned children can even appear as brother and sister in the same family of the same parents. Burghers share a common culture rather than a common ethnicity.


title: Burgher people

text: Burghers have a very strong interest in their family histories. Many old Burgher families kept "stamboeken" (from the Dutch for "clan books"). These recorded not only dates of births, marriages and deaths, but also significant events in the history of a family, such as details of moving house, illnesses, school records, and even major family disputes. An extensive, multi-volume "stamboek" of many family lineages is kept by the Dutch Burgher Union.


title: Burgher people

text: Individual families often have indigenous European traditions reflecting their specific family origins. Burghers of Dutch origin sometimes celebrate the Feast of Saint Nicholas in December, and those of Portuguese-Jewish origin observe customs such as the separation time of a woman after childbirth (see Leviticus 12:2-5), the redemption of the Firstborn ("Pidyon ha-Ben"), and the purification bath ("taharah") after a daughter’s first period (see "niddah"). Most of the latter Burgher families, being unaware of the Jewish origins of these customs, have given them a Catholic slant. (Catholic and Episcopal churches had services for the churching of women after childbirth from ancient times.)


title: Burgher people

text: However, some traditions attributed to Judaism can also be explained as borrowings or retention from the Tamil and Sinhalese communities with whom many Burgher families also share ancestry and culture. For example, the purification bath after a girl’s first period is a common cultural feature of the Tamil and Sinhalese communities of Sri Lanka and neighbouring India. Hence its prevalence amongst some Burghers families of Sri Lanka is not necessarily of Jewish origins.


title: Burgher people

text: Some commentators believe that the Burghers’ mixed backgrounds have made their culture more tolerant and open. While inter-communal strife has been a feature of modern Sri Lankan life, some Burghers have worked to maintain good relations with other ethnic groups.


title: Burgher people

text: In 2001, the Burghers established a heritage association, the Burgher Association, with headquarters at Union Place, Colombo.


title: Byeon Woo-seok

text: Byeon Woo-seok (born October 31, 1991) is a South Korean actor and model. He is known for his roles in "Live Up to Your Name" (2017), "" (2019), "" (2019), "Record of Youth" (2020), and "Moonshine" (2021-22), also gained widespread recognition for his leading role in the film "20th Century Girl" (2022).


title: Byeon Woo-seok

text: He made his debut as an actor in 2016, playing a minor role as Ha-jin's boyfriend in the SBS historical drama "".


title: Byeon Woo-seok

text: In 2019, he played a supporting role in "". The same year, he played Do-joon in the JTBC television series "" and was praised by the audience.


title: Byeon Woo-seok

text: In 2020, he got cast in a lead role in the tvN television series "Record of Youth" as Won Hae-hyo, starring opposite of Park So-dam and Park Bo-gum.


title: Byeon Woo-seok

text: In 2021, he was cast in KBS2's historical drama "Moonshine" as Lee Pyo, the rebellious crown prince, alongside Yoo Seung-ho, Lee Hye-ri and Kang Mi-na.


title: Clare Grogan

text: Claire Patricia Grogan (born 17 March 1962), known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish actress and singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well as for supporting roles in the 1981 film "Gregory's Girl" and the science fiction sitcom "Red Dwarf", as the first incarnation of Kristine Kochanski.


title: Clare Grogan

text: Aged 17, while dancing at the Glasgow College of Technology, a fight broke out nearby between several patrons. Grogan attempted to head away from the violence but was injured by thrown broken glass, causing a deep facial wound and prominent scar on the left side of her face. Grogan states that her parents still find it hard to read about the incident. She began filming "Gregory's Girl" just three months after the incident. In 1998, while she was working in theatre at Watford, it was discovered part of the glass was still in the facial tissue and had to be surgically removed.


title: Clare Grogan

text: As a member of Scottish Youth Theatre, she was originally obliged to appear as "C. P. Grogan" because there was already a member of Equity named Claire Grogan (the other Claire Grogan went on to become a photographer). She would later drop the "i" from her first name.


title: Clare Grogan

text: In 1996 she played a fitness instructor on the Edinburgh Fringe in the play "Lady Macbeth Firmed My Buttocks".


title: Clare Grogan

text: While working as a waitress at the Spaghetti Factory restaurant in Glasgow, she was spotted by film director Bill Forsyth. This led to her breakthrough acting role in 1981's "Gregory's Girl" as Susan. Because of her facial wound there were objections from the producers, but Forsyth refused to recast the role and Grogan was filmed mostly in profile. When filmed in close up, makeup artists covered Grogan's scar with Derma wax.


title: Clare Grogan

text: In 1984, she played Charlotte in Forsyth's "Comfort and Joy". In 1985, she was the receptionist in the BBC Television version of "Blott on the Landscape". Grogan appeared in the second episode of the acclaimed "The Monocled Mutineer" in 1986. She had a recurring role playing Dave Lister's would-be love-interest, Kristine Kochanski, in series 1, 2 and 6 of the TV show "Red Dwarf". However she was deemed too old for the role by Series 7 – despite being younger than most of her male counterparts – and replaced by Chloë Annett. Grogan has also appeared in "Father Ted" (episode "Rock-a-Hula Ted") in a thinly veiled parody of Sinéad O'Connor and in "EastEnders" as Ian Beale's love interest, Ros Thorne (1997–1998).


title: Clare Grogan

text: In 1992, Grogan appeared as Mary Catto in series 8 episode 21 of "Taggart" (again credited as C.P. Grogan).


title: Clare Grogan

text: She had the role of Maggie in a 1998 comedy "Jilting Joe", played an Eye-Surgeon in a 2002 short film "Bury It", appeared in "Doctors" in 2003, and performed another Edinburgh Fringe play "Forbidden" in 2004, as Lily, married to a WW2 Nazi officer but falling in love with a young Jewish woman.


title: Clare Grogan

text: In 2006 Grogan portrayed Sandra Reeves, a control-freak office manager, in the film "The Penalty King" played Cathy in an episode of "Sea of Souls", and May, Danny's mother, in the Scottish sit-com "Legit". She appeared in the video for Peter Kay and Matt Lucas' charity single "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", recorded for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day 2007, along with two TV films "Wedding Belles" and "Forgiven".


title: Clare Grogan

text: Grogan had a role in the 2011 TV series "Skins" as Shelley, mother of Mini McGuinness and played Jenny Ferris in the Scottish gangster film "The Wee Man" in 2013.


title: Clare Grogan

text: She starred as Myriam in the 2017 film "Delirium", filmed entirely at Royal Holloway, University of London.


title: Clare Grogan

text: Grogan developed her singing career as the lead singer of Altered Images, originally a five-piece band that included Johnny McElhone (later of the Scottish rock band Texas), whom she met while studying for her Highers exams. It became a four-person band with the departure of two members and the addition of Stephen Lironi, who played both guitar and drums. The band had several hits in the early 1980s, including "Happy Birthday", "Don't Talk to Me About Love", "I Could Be Happy" and "See Those Eyes". The group split up after the release of their third album, "Bite" (1983).


title: Clare Grogan

text: Grogan later attempted a solo career, but after her single "Love Bomb" failed to gain chart success in 1987, her album "Trash Mad" was never released. Grogan formed Universal Love School in 1989 with Lironi, performing a series of gigs around the UK. However, it was short-lived and produced no hit singles. In 2000, she contributed vocals to the song "Night Falls Like a Grand Piano" on The 6ths' album "Hyacinths and Thistles". She recorded a version of "Angels with Dirty Faces" for the Frankie Miller tribute album. The track "Her Hooped Dream" appears on "The Ultimate Celtic Album".


title: Clare Grogan

text: In 2002, Grogan performed as 'Altered Images' on the Here and Now Tour which featured other well known artists from the 1980s. She performed on similar tours in 2005, 2008 and 2009. She appeared with Chesney Hawkes, Toyah Willcox and Limahl as 'The 80s Supergroup' in the 2011 series of "Let's Dance for Comic Relief".


title: Clare Grogan

text: Grogan appeared in Series 2, Episode 2 of John Shuttleworth's Lounge Music on BBC Radio 4 on 27 November 2016.


title: Clare Grogan

text: Grogan began presenting shows on Absolute Radio 80s from 11 September 2017, presenting Monday to Thursday 8-9pm and Sundays 7-9pm.


title: Clare Grogan

text: In 2021, Grogan duetted with Sharleen Spiteri on the track "Look What You’ve Done", from "Hi", the tenth album released by Johnny McElhone's band Texas.


title: Clare Grogan

text: Grogan's first book was published in October 2008, a children's novel (aimed at age 7 and up) titled "Tallulah and the Teenstars", about a girl, Tallulah Gosh, who forms a pop band.


title: Clare Grogan

text: Tallulah Gosh was an alias Grogan thought of using at the start of her career because Equity had already registered a Claire Grogan and a more showbiz name might help her career, but Bill Forsyth persuaded her that she would come to regret it.


title: Clare Grogan

text: Grogan married bandmate Stephen Lironi in Glasgow in 1994. The couple live in Haringey in north London, and in 2005 they adopted a daughter, Ellie.


title: Teaspoon

text: A teaspoon (tsp.) is an item of cutlery. It is a small spoon that can be used to stir a cup of tea or coffee, or as a tool for measuring volume. The size of teaspoons ranges from about . For cooking purposes and dosing of medicine, a teaspoonful is defined as , and standard measuring spoons are used.


title: Teaspoon

text: A teaspoon is a small spoon suitable for stirring and sipping the contents of a cup of tea or coffee, or adding a portion of loose sugar to it. These spoons have heads more or less oval in shape. Teaspoons are a common part of a place setting.


title: Teaspoon

text: Teaspoons with longer handles, such as iced tea spoons, are commonly used also for ice cream desserts or floats. Similar spoons include the tablespoon and the dessert spoon, the latter intermediate in size between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, used in eating dessert and sometimes soup or cereals. Much less common is the coffee spoon, which is a smaller version of the teaspoon, intended for use with the small type of coffee cup. Another teaspoon, called an "orange spoon" (in American English: grapefruit spoon), tapers to a sharp point or teeth, and is used to separate citrus fruits from their membranes. A bar spoon, equivalent to a teaspoon, is used in measuring ingredients for mixed drinks.


title: Teaspoon

text: A container designed to hold extra teaspoons, called a "spooner", usually in a set with a covered sugar container, formed a part of Victorian table service.


title: Teaspoon

text: Teaspoon is a European invention. Small spoons were common in Europe since at least the 13th century, the special spoons were introduced almost simultaneously with the tea and coffee (Pettigrew points to use in the mid-17th century). Originally the teaspoons were exotic items, precious and small, resembling the demitasse spoons of the later times. Also used for coffee, these spoons were usually made of gilt silver, and were available with a variety of handle shapes: plain, twisted, decorated with knobs. Widespread use and modern size date back to the Georgian era.


title: Teaspoon

text: The teaspoon is first mentioned in an advertisement in a 1686 edition of the "London Gazette", teaspoons, probably of English origin, are present on the 1700 Dutch painting by Nicholas Verkolje, "A Tea Party".


title: Teaspoon

text: A special dish for resting the teaspoons, a "spoon boat", was a part of the tea set in the 18th century. At that time, the spoons were playing important role in the tea drinking etiquette: a spoon laid "across" the teacup indicated that the guest did not need any more tea, otherwise, the hostess was obligated to offer a fresh cup of tea, and it was considered impolite to refuse the offering. Pettigrew reports that sometimes the spoons were numbered to make it easier to match the cups with the guests after a refill.


title: Teaspoon

text: In some countries, a teaspoon (occasionally "teaspoonful") is a cooking measure of volume, especially widely used in cooking recipes and pharmaceutic medical prescriptions. In English it is abbreviated as "tsp." or, less often, as "t.", "ts.", or "tspn.". The abbreviation is never capitalized because a capital letter is customarily reserved for the larger tablespoon ("Tbsp.", "T.", "Tbls.", or "Tb.").


title: Teaspoon

text: The metric teaspoon as a unit of culinary measure is 5 mL, equal to , UK/Canadian metric tablespoon, or Australian metric tablespoon.


title: Teaspoon

text: As a unit of culinary measure, one teaspoon in the United States is tablespoon, exactly , 1 US fluid drams, US fl oz, US cup, US liquid gallon, or  (0.30078125) cubic inches.


title: Teaspoon

text: For nutritional labeling and medicine in the US, the teaspoon is defined the same as a metric teaspoonprecisely 5 millilitres (mL).


title: Teaspoon

text: For dry ingredients (e.g., salt, flour, spices), if a recipe calls for a "level" teaspoon, it refers to an approximately leveled filling of the spoon, producing the same volume as for liquids. A "rounded" teaspoon is a larger but less precise measure, produced by heaping the ingredient as high as possible without leveling the ingredient off. A "heaping" (North American English) or "heaped" (UK English) teaspoon is an even larger inexact measure consisting of the amount obtained by scooping the dry ingredient up without leveling it off. For some ingredients, e.g. flour, this quantity can vary considerably.


title: Teaspoon

text: As an unofficial but once widely used unit of apothecaries' measure, the teaspoon is equal to 1 fluid dram (or drachm) and thus of a tablespoon or of a fluid ounce. The apothecaries' teaspoon was formally known by the Latin "cochleare minus" ("cochl. min.") to distinguish it from the tablespoon or "cochleare majus" ("cochl. maj.").


title: Teaspoon

text: When tea-drinking was first introduced to England circa 1660, tea was rare and expensive, as a consequence of which teacups and teaspoons were smaller than today. This situation persisted until 1784, when the Commutation Act reduced the tax on tea from 119% to 12.5%. As the price of tea declined, the size of teacups and teaspoons increased. By the 1850s, the teaspoon as a unit of culinary measure had increased to of a tablespoon, but the apothecary unit of measure remained the same. Nevertheless, the teaspoon, usually under its Latin name, continued to be used in apothecaries' measures for several more decades, with the original definition of one fluid dram.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Literacy in the United States was determined by the National Center for Education Statistics to be at a mid to high level in 2019, at 98% with 1.5% of American adults categorized as having "low level English literacy," including 0.1% classified as "functionally illiterate" and an additional .01% that could not participate. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In many nations, the ability to read a simple sentence suffices as literacy, and was the previous standard for the U.S. The definition of literacy has changed greatly; the term is presently defined as the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The United States Department of Education assesses literacy in the general population through its National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). The NAAL survey defines three types of literacy:


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Modern jobs often demand a high literacy level, and its lack in adults and adolescents has been studied extensively.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: According to a 1992 survey, about 40 million adults had Level 1 literary competency, the lowest level, comprising understanding only basic written instructions. A number of reports and studies are published annually to monitor the nation's status, and initiatives to improve literacy rates are funded by government and external sources.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In early U.S. colonial history, teaching children to read was the responsibility of the parents for the purpose of reading the Bible. The Massachusetts law of 1642 and the Connecticut law of 1650 required that not only children but also servants and apprentices were required to learn to read. During the industrial revolution, many nursery schools, preschools and kindergartens were established to formalize education. The majority of youth in southern states were not able to receive secondary schooling until the 1920s. Throughout the 20th century, there was an increase in federal acts and models to ensure that children were developing their literacy skills and receiving education. Starting in the 2000s, there has been an increase of immigrants in cities, the majority of whose children speak languages other than English and who thus fall behind their peers in reading. Elementary school literacy has been the focus of educational reform since that time.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The National Bureau of Economic Research published a data set with an overview of the history of education in the United States until the 20th and 21st centuries. According to the bureau, "Formal education, especially basic literacy, is essential for a well-functioning democracy, and enhances citizenship and community."


title: Literacy in the United States

text: 19th century literacy rates in the United States were relatively high, despite the country's decentralized educational system. By 1875, the U.S. literacy rate was approximately 80 percent. There has been a notable increase in American citizens' educational attainment since then, but studies have also indicated a decline in reading performance which began during the 1970s. Although the U.S. Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) and legislation such as the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 had highlighted education as an issue of national importance, the push for high levels of mass literacy has been a recent development; expectations of literacy have sharply increased over past decades. Contemporary literacy standards have become more difficult to meet than historical criteria, which were applied only to the elite. Due to the proliferation (and increased accessibility) of public education, the expectation of mass literacy has been applied to the entire U.S. population.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Literacy has particular importance in adulthood since the changing dynamics of the American job market demand greater skills and knowledge of entry-level workers. In the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, young adults without a post-secondary education experienced difficulty obtaining career positions. A multi-variable analysis indicated that low and below-basic literacy rates were characteristic of individuals without higher education, and improving and sustaining mass literacy at earlier stages of education has become a focus of American leaders and policymakers.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: With the landmark publication of "A Nation at Risk" by the US National Commission on Excellence in Education. in 1983, concern for the performance of American students relative to other student bodies worldwide intensified. It has been observed that adolescents undergo a critical transition during their grade-school years which prepares them to learn and apply knowledge to their actions and behavior in the outside world. As the job market has become more demanding, the rigor of educational institutions has increased to prepare students for the more-complex tasks which will be expected of them. Addressing sub-par reading performance and low youth literacy rates are important to achieve high levels of mass literacy because the issue of sub-par academic performance is compounded. Students who struggle at an early age continue to struggle throughout their school years because they do not have the same foundation of understanding and breadth of knowledge to build upon as their peers; this often translates to below-average, poor literacy levels in later grades and into adulthood.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Adult and adolescent literacy levels are under greater scrutiny in the U.S., with a number of reports and studies published annually to monitor the nation's status. Initiatives to improve literacy rates have taken the form of government provisions and external funding, which have been driving forces behind national education reform from primary school to higher education.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In 2019, the National Center for Educational Statistics reported that 4.1% of US adults had literacy abilities below level 1, defined as "unable to successfully determine the meaning of sentences, read relatively short texts to locate a single piece of information, or complete simple forms", and could be classified as functionally illiterate.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated school closures which had a negative impact on child literacy in America. More than one million eligible children did not enroll in kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year in the U.S.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The simplest definition of literacy in a nation is the percent of people age 15 or older who can read and write, which is used to rank nations. More-complex definitions, involving the kind of reading needed for occupations or tasks in daily life, are termed functional literacy, prose literacy, document literacy and quantitative literacy. These more-complex definitions of literacy are useful to educators, and are used by the Department of Education.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In a 2003 study of adults, the National Center for Education Statistics (part of the Education Department) measured functional literacy. The center measured three types of functional literacy: prose literacy, document literacy, and quantitative literacy. Prose literacy consists of the "knowledge and skills needed to perform prose tasks", and includes the ability to read news articles and brochures. Document literacy consists of the "knowledge and skills needed to perform document tasks", which include job applications, payroll forms and maps. Similarly, quantitative literacy is the "knowledge and skills required to perform quantitative tasks"; those tasks include balancing a checkbook and filling out an order form.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The governments of other countries may label individuals who can read a few thousand simple words which they learned by sight in the first four grades in school as literate. UNESCO has collected the definitions used by nations in their tables of literacy in its General Metadata on National Literacy Data table; variations depend on whether childhood literacy (age six) or adult literacy was measured. The list distinguishes between a respondent's self-reported literacy and demonstrated ability to read.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Other sources may term individuals functionally illiterate if they are unable to read basic sources of written information, such as warning labels and driving directions. According to "The World Factbook" from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), "There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy" and its statistics are based on the most common definition: "the ability to read and write at a specified age." The National Center for Education Statistics defines literacy as "the ability to understand, evaluate, use and engage with written texts to participate in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential." "Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of the Factbook. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons." "The World Factbook" does not include the U.S. literacy rate in its reporting. Using its definition, literacy refers to the percentage of people age 15 or older who can read and write.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Failure to complete secondary school is blamed for some problems with literacy, and programs directly addressing literacy have increased.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Functional literacy can be divided into useful literacy, informational literacy and pleasurable literacy. Useful literacy reflects the most-common practice of using an understanding of written text to navigate daily life. Informational literacy can be defined as text comprehension and the ability to connect new information presented in the text to previous knowledge. Pleasurable literacy is the ability of an individual to read, understand, and engage with texts that he or she enjoys. In a more abstract sense, multiple literacy can be classified into school, community, and personal concepts. These categories refer to an individual's ability to learn about academic subjects, understand social and cultural contexts, and learn about themselves from an examination of their own backgrounds.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In 1988, the Department of Education was asked by Congress to undertake a national literacy survey of American adults. The study identifies a class of adults who, although not meeting the criteria for functional illiteracy, face reduced job opportunities and life prospects due to inadequate literacy levels relative to requirements which were released in April 2002 and reapplied in 2003 as trend data. The 2002 study involved lengthy interviews with adults who were statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the country, and was designed to represent the U.S. population as a whole. The National Adult Literacy Survey, conducted in 1992, was the first literacy survey which provided "accurate and detailed information on the skills of the adult population as a whole." The U.S. has participated in cyclical, large-scale assessment programs undertaken by the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) and sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) since 1992. The survey revealed that the literacy of about 40 million adults was limited to Level 1 (the lowest level, an understanding of basic written instructions).


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The Institute of Education Sciences conducted large-scale assessments of adult proficiency in 1992 and 2003 with a common methodology from which trends could be measured. The study measures prose, document and quantitative skills, and 19,000 subjects participated in the 2003 survey. There was no significant change in prose or document skills, and a slight increase in quantitative skills. As in 2008, roughly 15% of the sample could function at the highest levels of all three categories; about 50% were at basic or below-basic levels of proficiency in all three categories. The government study indicated that 21 to 23% of adult Americans were "not able to locate information in text", could "not make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were "unable to integrate easily identifiable pieces of information." About one-fourth of the individuals who performed at this level reported that they were born in another country, and some were recent immigrants with a limited command of English. 62% of the individuals on that level of the prose scale said they had not completed high school, and 35% had no more than eight years of education. A relatively high percentage of the respondents at this level were African American, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander, and about 33% were age 65 or older. 26% of the adults who performed at Level 1 said that they had a physical, mental or health condition which kept them from participating fully in work and other activities, and 19% reported vision problems which made reading print difficult. The individuals at this level of literacy had a diverse set of characteristics which influenced their performance; according to this study, 41% to 44% of U.S. adults at the lowest level of the literacy scale were living in poverty. A NAAL follow-up study by the same group of researchers, using a smaller database (19,714 interviewees), was released in 2006 which indicated some upward movement of low-end (basic and below to intermediate) in U.S. adult literacy levels and a decline in the full-proficiency group.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The United States was one of seven countries which participated in the 2003 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL), whose results were published in 2005. The U.S. and dozens of other countries began participating in the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), a large-scale assessment of adult skills—including literacy—under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in 2011. The NCES describes the PIACC as the "most current indicator of the nation's progress in adult skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments."


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In 1982, funded by the United States Department of Education, the United States Census Bureau conducted the English Language Proficiency Survey (ELPS): an in-home literacy test of 3,400 adults. The Education Department considered this direct measure of literacy more accurate than a 1979 estimate which inferred literacy from the number of years of education completed. Data from the ELPS were presented in a 1986 Census Bureau report which concluded that 13% of adults living in the United States were illiterate in English. Nine percent of adults whose native language was English (native speakers) were illiterate, and 48 percent of non-native speakers were illiterate in English but not necessarily illiterate in their maternal language.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In his 1985 book, "Illiterate America", Jonathan Kozol ascribed the very-high figures for literacy to weaknesses in methodology. Kozol noted that in addition to this weakness, the reliance on written forms would have excluded many individuals who did not have a literate family member to fill out the form for them. The Census Bureau reported a literacy rate of 86%, based on personal interviews and written responses to Census Bureau mailings. The bureau considered an individual literate if they said that they could read and write, and assumed that anyone with a fifth-grade education had at least an 80% chance of being literate. Kozol suggested that because illiterate people are likely to be unemployed and may not have a telephone or permanent address, the Census Bureau would have been unlikely to find them.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In 1988, the Department of Education was asked by Congress to undertake a national literacy survey of American adults. The National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Department of Education, awarded a contract to the Educational Testing Service and a subcontract to Westat to design and conduct the survey.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) provided detailed information on the skills of the adult population as a whole. The survey interviewed about 26,000 people aged 16 and older: a nationally representative sample of about 14,000 people and an additional 12,000 surveys from states which opted into state-level assessments. Its results were published in 1993. That year, the NALS was described as a nationally representative, continuing assessment of the English-language literary skills of American adults. The study avoided a single standard of literacy, assessing individuals in three aspects of literacy with each aspect defined on a 500-point scale. Scores in each aspect (prose, document, and quantitative) were grouped in five levels: level 1 (0-225), level 2 (226-275), level 3 (276-325), level 4 (326-375), and level 5 (376-500).


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) was sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as one of its assessment programs. The study included comparisons to the 1992 survey. Adults over sixteen years of age were scored on their prose, document, and quantitative literacy. Although there was no significant change in prose and document literacy between 1992 and 2003, quantitative literacy improved. The study maintained the practice of the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey of dividing literacy into three aspects, each measured on a 500-point scale. Scores in each aspect were again grouped into five different levels, using a new numerical scale which differed for each aspect.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Mandated by Congress, the annual Condition of Education Report is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) assesses national education data using 88 indicators and includes workforce statistics and global comparisons. The NCES operates under the aegis of the U.S. Department of Education as its statistical, with primary responsibility for the collection and analysis of education data.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The United States participated in the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL) with Bermuda, Canada, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and the Mexican state of Nuevo León. Data was collected in 2003, and the results were published in 2005. Adults were scored on five levels of difficulty in prose, document and numeracy literacy. In 2003, only eight percent of the population aged 16 to 65 in Norway fell into the lowest skill level (level 1). The highest percentage was 47%, in Italy; the United States was third-highest at 20%.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The United States participated in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), which was "developed under the auspices" of the OECD. The PIACC is a "collaborative endeavour involving the participating countries, the OECD Secretariat, the European Commission and an international consortium led by Educational Testing Service (ETS)". According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the PIACC provides the "most current indicator of the nation's progress in adult skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments" and is a "large-scale assessment of adult skills."


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In 2012, 24 countries participated in the large-scale study; thirty-three countries participated in 2014.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The 2013 OECD report "First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills", which published the results of tests conducted in 2011 and 2012, said that the "skills of adults in the United States [had] remained relatively unchanged in the decade since the previous report, while other countries have been showing improvements, especially among adults with low basic skills." The 2011 literacy test for was altered: "Before the PIAAC 2011 survey, however, essentially all that one could infer about the literacy skills of adults below Level 1 was that they could not consistently perform accurately on the easiest literacy tasks on the survey. One could not estimate what literacy tasks they could do successfully, if any."


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In 2016, PIAAC 2012 and 2014 data were released. Participating adults in Singapore and the United States had the largest number of adults scoring "at or below Level 1 in literacy proficiency" compared to other participating countries in their performance in "all three reading components". According to the authors of the OECD report, "These results may be related to the language background of the immigrant population in the United States."


title: Literacy in the United States

text: According to the 2012-2014 data, 79% of U.S. adults (or 43.0 million people) have "English literacy skills sufficient to complete tasks that require comparing and contrasting information, paraphrasing, or making low-level inferences." In this study, immigrants are over-represented in the low English literacy population. Adults born outside the U.S. make up 34% of adults with low literacy skills while making up only 15% of the population. However, of the adults with low English literacy skills, 66% were born in the U.S.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Gallup principal economist Jonathan Rothwell concluded, in a 2020 analysis and economic impact study of the PIAAC results collected during 2012 - 2017; commissioned by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, that the United States could increase its annual GDP by 10%, adding $2.2 trillion in annual income, by enabling greater literacy for the 54% of Americans reading below a sixth-grade level nationwide. The analysis noted that, of the 33 OECD nations included in the survey, the U.S. had placed sixteenth for literacy, and surmised that about half of Americans surveyed, aged 16 to 74, had demonstrated a below sixth-grade reading level.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: From 2005 to 2009, Jack Miller of Central Connecticut State University conducted annual studies aimed at identifying America's most literate cities. Miller drew from a number of available data resources, and the CCSU America's Most Literate Cities study ranks the largest cities (population 250,000 and above) in the United States. The study focuses on six indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical-publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The 1960s was a time when most African-American, Latino, and Native American students were primarily educated in different and segregated schools that were also "funded at rates many times lower than those serving white" students. Asian Americans also were subject to unjust and inhumane literacy education practice: "Early arguments for Asian American education hinged on the assumption that Asian Americans were inherently different—namely, depraved and disloyal—and consequently needed an education that would deter them from criminal delinquency." Rhetoric scholar Haivan Hoang asserts that unequal literacy practices persist today and that modern perceptions of the American literate individual is normalized in non-racial minority identities.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The U.S. public education has been "highly decentralized" compared to other nations, such as France. A decentralized public education system may result in coordination problems among staff and faculty, an expectation to carry out a "large group of staff specialists at enormous cost," and there is no standardization of education at a national scale. Various studies from the early 2000s and later reveal that the U.S. was ranked number 20 out of the 34 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in terms of earning average or below-average grades in reading, science, and mathematics. A news report stated that out of the total number of elementary school students that reached middle school grade in the United States, only 44% of them were proficient in reading and math by the year 2015. Compared to their white counterparts at the age of 5, black and Hispanic children score lower in expressive vocabulary, listening comprehension, and other acuity indicators.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In the 1900s, Black families began to spread across the United States to escape the brutality of the Jim Crow South. Segregation had rooted itself in U.S. society, including in American schools. The majority of southern youth of color were not able to receive secondary schooling until the 1920s. "Brown v. Board of Education" of 1954 ruled the concept of “separate but equal” unconstitutional, beginning the desegregation of schools. Even so, the effects of segregation are still visible today, as many K-12 schools are in areas that are predominately home to BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color). These schools typically tend to be underfunded and lacking the resources to give their students the education they deserve. This historical injustice relates directly to why a majority of the elementary schools with struggling readers are in low income and/or minority areas today.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Some studies show that socioeconomically disadvantaged students, including those with subsidized lunches, score low reading levels. In addition, English language learners (ELL) and children of immigrants have high dropout rates and low scores on standardized tests. School districts provide the same materials for every student in the same grade levels, but each student learns at a different reading level and often is not able to engage with the text. Without distinguishing curriculum and standards, English language learners and children from low-income families fall behind their peers. Teachers spend a majority of their class time reading and supporting struggling readers, but teachers have not been able to do this all the time. Other than the educational risks of not working towards an equitable education, the ever-changing "economic and demographic landscapes" also demanded that there be a need for a "more robust policy [and] strategies" which would address the gaps in elementary education. Moreover, there was also an issue regarding the funding gap between the rich and poor schools. A report published during the Obama administration found that the funding gap grew to over 44% within ten years spanning from the early 2000s to 2012. Along with that, the Supreme Court's decision in San Antonio School District V. Rodriquez ruled that education is "not within the limited category of the rights recognized by the Constitution" and thus not protected by the Constitution.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Historical injustice and segregation in the United States has meant that most high poverty schools are composed of a minority-majority of BIPOC students. It has also allowed parents of color to be ridiculed and blamed for the failings of the school systems and of the government to teach children to read and write. One scholar comments on the city of Oakland's struggle with illiteracy: “Low levels of parental and community participation in public schools is frequently interpreted as an indication of disinterest in education. Yet there is no evidence to support such an assumption.”


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Inequity was again demonstrated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education, with school closures negating traditional early learning systems nationwide. More than one million eligible children did not enroll in kindergarten for the 2020-2021 school year in the U.S.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The pandemic illustrated persistent racial and economic disparities, even "creating the potential for a lost generation." Most affected are students in vulnerable communities, most notably BIPOC children who were already experiencing unequal standards—from resources, like books to counselors to student-teacher ratios and extracurricular activities. Published in January 2022, Yale economist Fabrizio Zilibotti co-authored a study with professors from the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University and the University of Amsterdam, showing that "the pandemic is widening educational inequality and that the learning gaps created by the crisis will persist."


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Federal government responses to address the problems of struggling English language learners and overstretched teachers ensued from the 1960s. Head Start was created in 1964 for children and families living under the poverty line, to help prepare children under five for elementary school and to provide family support for health, nutrition, and social services. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to ensure that each child gets equal education, regardless of their race or familial affluence. In response to English language learners, in 1968 Congress passed the Bilingual Education Act. The act allowed ELL students to learn in their first language and provided resources to assist schools with ELL students. Even as new legislation has come about throughout history that grants rights to BIPOC citizens, they are already behind because of the history of white supremacy . Generational discrimination connects directly to why students who struggle in reading proficiency who attend underfunded schools are typically children of color. Statistically, schools with BIPOC enrollment of 90% or more in its student body spend $733 less per student per year than schools with a White student body of 90% or more enrolled. This statistic displays the disproportionate lack of funding for students of color in general and the same trend is seen in elementary school of the United States specifically.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Teachers play an extremely important role in the classroom given that they work with the student consistently enough to notice which students struggle most. Studies have shown that teacher judgment assessments are a really accurate determinant for elementary school students’ reading proficiency. They are not as precise as the curriculum based measurements (CBM) but extremely accurate on average. This gives faster and more personal results in terms of identifying which student needs more assistance. In 1997, President Bill Clinton proposed that tutors work with children reading below their grade level. Tutoring programs include partnerships with university organizations in which college students tutor and develop the literacy skills of elementary school students. Using non-certified teachers reduces the amount of money that a school would have to put into hiring many certified teachers, which increases the number of children that can be helped. Many underprivileged elementary school students need this reading proficiency assistance but also deserve the best quality given the historical inequities within the educational system. The tutoring model's components can ensure that service from a non-certified tutor can in fact prove to be effective by “engaging reading materials that are carefully graded in difficulty"; offering "a sequenced word study or phonics curriculum"; "regularly scheduled tutoring sessions (at least two each week)"; "a committed group of non certified tutors (para-professionals or community volunteers)": and "a knowledgeable reading teacher who provides ongoing supervision to the tutors.” Tutoring elementary school students is extremely effective when it is accompanied by a series of approved curriculum, adequate training, and systems of accountability.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: By January 12, 2015, civil rights groups and education advocates drafted and released a document called the 'shared civil rights principles for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA),' which pushed for the reauthorization of a bill termed ESEA, which was initially drafted in 2002. Though not yet passed, the bill had innumerable pathways that insured money for the education sector. Still, due to the Senate and the House's polarization, it had not been re-approved and had been pending approval since 2007. The bill would push for equal access to educational opportunities for students across the country. "As of January 16, 22 organizations [had] signed the principles". The following day, on January 17, "Sen. Lamar Alexander, R. Tenn., released a draft reauthorization bill for ESEA".


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Following ESEA approval, Charter I, also called Title I schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), received $6.4 billion in "Basic Grants," $1.3 billion in "Concentrated Grants," and $3.3 billion in "Targeted Grants" in 2015, in response to Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) being passed. ESEA ensures financial assistance is provided to local educational agencies who work for children coming from low-income families in pursuit of help, and hence fulfill the goals of state academic standards. These Title I schools can contract private nonprofit tutoring programs to work with their students in enhancing skills such as reading comprehension, analytical skills, and word recognition.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The provisions through the "No Child Left Behind Act adopted" in 2002, the reauthorization of the ESEA in 2015, and the "Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015" build upon specific guidelines, conditions, and financial policies, indicating progress towards equity in education. According to a study conducted in the state of Alabama, the "addition of [certain education] standards and a means of measuring whether a district has met those educational standards have heightened the awareness of a need for adequacy".


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided $122 billion in school funding for programs to assist with reopening amidst COVID-19 pandemic safety protocols and to address both academic and mental health needs of students. In July 2022, First Lady Jill Biden, a former teacher, and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona embarked on a two-day assessment tour to observe summer learning programs designed to help children catch up on reading, writing and arithmetic skills prior to the 2022-2023 school year.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Non-governmental organizations have been described as the "missing link between the government and the poor": NGOs bridge the gap that the government leaves open for the less fortunate. While Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) in education were also not prevalent during the early 2000s, but with the declining standards of education, NGOs, which included both non-profits and for-profits emerged, which focused more on the "private engagement", the one-on-one teaching mode. "Private engagement [by tutoring programs] is not only altering the delivery of education but also participating in the reshaping of the politics of education" since the usage of material and mode of instruction does help mold the way a student views the world. Also, since the 1990s, and up until the early 21st century, there was a more significant concern regarding "the need for better articulation and specification of concepts," which were challenges that NGOs had to address. Though the work of NGOs in any field is to an extent independent of government intervention, however, there is some overlap and collaboration between them. NGOs within the education and literacy sectors are seen as supplemental to the already large governmental role in education. NGOs strengthen the overall reach that society can have on a child's education.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Reading Partners' history dates back to 1999 when three community leaders from Menlo Park in California launched a one-on-one tutoring program to help these children facing the aforementioned problems at Belle Haven Community School. Reading Partners was founded on enhancing reading and comprehension skills which would produce literate global citizens. "Before the 1990s, contracting for services in K-12 education tended to focus on what has been called non-instructional services".


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Over time, the program acquired a nonprofit organization's status, garnered support from local and state leaders, and gained financial and social assistance from foundations like AmeriCorps, George Kaiser Family Rainwater Charitable Foundation, and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. Reading Partners has now spread to several states across the U.S. and is headquartered in Oakland, California. "While supporting nonprofits, these foundations are engaged in what Janelle Scott and others refer to as venture philanthropy". The organization has a hierarchical system with a board of directors on top. Each board member oversees a specific branch of the organization, such as the logistical branch, support branch, PR branch, and a branch focused on crafting an educational curriculum.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The organization currently works only with Charter I schools, low-income public elementary schools which are independently operated. The reason behind such a directed target is what Reading Partner calls the reduction in students "experiencing poverty [who] face immense educational barriers and enter elementary school already further behind their peers who are not experiencing poverty".


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Reading Partners, among other Non-profit organizations, in collaboration with other academic and government institutions, crafted a curriculum aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which have been implemented by most states. This ensures that the tutees' instruction would be synonymous with other students in all other schools. Pre-and Post-reading questions were added to initiate critical thinking from the students in every lesson. There was increased use of colored books to catch attention and enlarged fonts to prevent the tutee's reading difficulty. Mid-semester tests, called STAR assessments, were designed and employed, which allowed reinforcement of vocabulary and concepts during preceding lessons, since "students learn complex information most effectively if they are allowed to experience the information in various formats". Reading Partners' approach to improving the reading skills of students is grounded within the research on "literacy interventions in general and one-to-one tutoring specifically". Also, the use of "two-or three-dimensional graphics, color illustrations, audio, and video sequences, and even two-or three-dimensional animation and simulations" by Reading Partners, proved to be "an invaluable pedagogical advance".


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Many research models have been employed to test the efficacy of instructional models, including Reading Partners' crafted schemes. The organization focuses on word recognition in the lessons and repetition of lessons prepared to test and enhance the tutees' visuospatial and phonological interpreting skills. One research focused on the comparison of various approaches to additional reading instruction for low-achieving second-grade students. The study found out that "approaches that combined word recognition and reading comprehension treatment increased phonological decoding significantly more than the treated control or word recognition only treatment and had the highest effect size". In another study, the treated children receiving additional instruction were seen to improve significantly more in the areas of phonological decoding and reading real words than did those in another program, and the "combined word recognition and reading comprehension treatment, which was explicit, had the highest effect sizes for both pseudoword and real-word reading." It was recognized from the study that the most effective supplemental instruction to increase phonological decoding was the combination of explicit word recognition and detailed reading comprehension training. Also, according to a 2017 study, for the average Reading Partners student, after attendance of one year in Reading Partner's tutoring program, there was an "improvement [that] was equivalent to moving from the 15th percentile to the 21st percentile".


title: Literacy in the United States

text: The role of tutors is of great importance in Reading Partners, though the utilization of tutors effectively is incumbent on their training, and education level. The minimum requirement for being chosen as a volunteer tutor is based on completing secondary school in the U.S. The tutors are required to attend training and shadow one or more sessions with another experienced tutor or staff member to accumulate the logistical and academic rigor at least two times a week, with each session being a 45-minute session. One tutor is assigned with one student for a whole school year, and tutors follow a pre-designed and pre-approved curriculum. The excellent use of visual aids, including stills and colorful drawings, and the deployment of alluring graphics in each tutoring session for the tutee have been very beneficial for the students. The testable approaches employed, such as pre-and post-lecture questions focusing on the lecture's main ideas, to better the tutee's reading, comprehension, and analytical skills, resulted in fruitful gains. A study found that such tutoring interventions "have a significant positive effect on participating students' verbal skills" as well. Tutors have, over the years, been showing increasing interest in giving back to the community and making a mark in society by watering the seeds of today, the students, that will sprout into a tree tomorrow, literate citizens. As Bethany Grove puts it in her research study, "tutors who volunteer with Reading Partners are there to make a difference for students, just as volunteers with other organizations are seeking to make an impact". In terms of reducing the achievement that is present in the United States, specifically for elementary students, "research on volunteer tutoring found that despite many limitations," the programs which employ one-on-one tutoring pedagogy "can be effective in improving student achievement".


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In the United States, the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP ("The Nation's Report Card") is the national assessment of what students know and can do in various subjects. Four of these subjects—reading, writing, mathematics and science—are assessed most frequently and reported at the state and district level, usually for grades 4 and 8.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: In 2019, with respect to the reading skills of the nation's grade-four public school students, 34% performed at or above the "Proficient level" (solid academic performance) and 65% performed at or above the "Basic level" (partial mastery of the proficient level skills). The results by race / ethnicity were as follows:


title: Literacy in the United States

text: NAEP reading assessment results are reported as average scores on a 0–500 scale. The Basic Level is 208 and the Proficient Level is 238. The average reading score for grade-four public school students was 219. Female students had an average score that was 7 points higher than male students. Students who were eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) had an average score that was 28 points lower than that for students who were not eligible.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Reading scores for the individual states and districts are available on the NAEP site. Between 2017 and 2019 Mississippi was the only state that had a grade-four reading score increase and 17 states had a score decrease.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: Literacy standards and tests also apply to non-English speaking populations in schools. Implemented in 2010, Common Core serves as the national education curriculum and standards by which most public schools must abide. It serves as the latest vision of literacy in America, including comprehension skills in writing and reading and methods to achieve annual standards. Common Core's aim is to improve and expand literacy for students by the end of their high school careers. Within this system there are principals to address English language learners (ELL), and their placement within classrooms of native English speakers. This area of curriculum is designed to offer an extra layer of support for ELL. The US Department of Education and National Center for Education Statistics have found discrepancies within Common Core's curriculum that do not fully address the needs of ELL populations. Educational gaps are created by inequality within classrooms, in this case, a separation between ELL and native English speakers are due in part by Common Core's lack of support.


title: Literacy in the United States

text: E.L.L. have remained "stuck" at an intermediate level of proficiency brought on by expectations and standardized testing that places them behind and distances them from their English-speaking peers. These expectations produce a cycle of needing to "catch up" or needing to be at the same level as other students without the extra accommodations. A study from 2011 concluded that 65% of Bay Area, eighth-grade E.L.L.s scored "Below Basic" on standardized writing assessments, with only 1% scoring at the "Proficient" level.


title: World of Darkness

text: World of Darkness is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with "", "", "", "", and "", along with off-shoots based on these. The series ended in 2004, and the reboot Chronicles of Darkness was launched the same year with a new line of games. In 2011, the original series was brought back, and the two have since been published concurrently.


title: World of Darkness

text: The games in the series have a shared setting, also named the World of Darkness, which is a dark, gothic-punk interpretation of the real world, where supernatural beings such as vampires and werewolves exist in secrecy. The original series' setting has a large focus on lore and overarching narrative, whereas "Chronicles of Darkness" setting has no such narrative and presents the details of its setting as optional.


title: World of Darkness

text: The series has been well received critically for its setting, writing, and art direction, and has won or been nominated for awards including the Origins Award. It has also been commercially successful, with millions of game books sold; by 2001, "Vampire: The Masquerade" was the second highest selling tabletop role-playing game after TSR, Inc.'s "Dungeons & Dragons". The series has been adapted into other media, including the television series "", actual play web series, novels and anthologies, comic books, card games, and a line of video games.


title: World of Darkness

text: The original "World of Darkness" series consists of seven core lines of role-playing games which were originally released from 1991 to 2002 – "", "", "", "", "", "", and "" – as well as off-shoots based on these, such as the Asia-themed "Kindred of the East" and the historical "".


title: World of Darkness

text: The 2004 reboot series, "Chronicles of Darkness", consists of eleven game lines: "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Demon: The Descent", "Beast: The Primordial", and "Deviant: The Renegades". Most of these are based on concepts from the original series, directly as with "Vampire: The Requiem" and "Vampire: The Masquerade", or indirectly as with "Geist" and "Wraith", which both deal with spirits.


title: World of Darkness

text: Both series are supported with supplementary sourcebooks detailing backgrounds and character types, which can be used when creating adventures for one's players; pre-made adventure modules have also occasionally been published. The "Chronicles of Darkness" sourcebooks in particular present the information as optional and something one may choose whether to include in one's game. The supplements often take the form of a book describing a location as it is portrayed in the setting, such as "Vampire: The Masquerade" series of "By Night" books and "Werewolf: The Apocalypse" "Rage Across" series. Several splatbooks – sourcebooks detailing character classes or organizations – have also been published, such as the "Clanbook" series, describing vampire clans, and the "Kithbook" line, covering types of fae.


title: World of Darkness

text: The games in the original series are set in a shared universe, also named the World of Darkness, which is a dark, gothic-punk interpretation of the real world, rife with corruption. In it, supernatural beings such as vampires, mages, and werewolves exist in secrecy, influencing humanity and clashing against each other; players take the roles of these beings, who belong to various classes such as "Vampire: The Masquerade" vampire clans, and "Werewolf: The Apocalypse" werewolf tribes. The series as a whole is themed around personal horror, while individual games have their own themes, such as redemption and humanity in "Vampire: The Masquerade", and hubris in "Mage: The Ascension". The series is known for its focus on metaplot – an overarching story for the setting that advances as new game books are released.


title: World of Darkness

text: Whereas the original series has a large focus on lore and background information for its setting, the urban horror "Chronicles of Darkness" setting does not to the same extent; it does not have a metaplot, and it presents any setting information as strictly optional to include in campaigns. With its lesser focus on lore and less defined world, "Chronicles of Darkness" also streamlines the character types, stripping the many vampire clans and werewolf tribes from the original series down to five each.


title: World of Darkness

text: The person leading campaigns – a role called gamemaster or dungeon master in other games – is called a storyteller in "World of Darkness", highlighting how the series is more focused on collaborative storytelling than on combat or on players overcoming the game leader's challenges; the rules exist to give players a framework for telling stories, and players are rewarded by being part of the setting rather than by escalating power levels. "Chronicles of Darkness" has a larger focus on making the gameplay systems work together, enabling easier cross-over play between the games.


title: World of Darkness

text: The "World of Darkness" series began development in 1990 by game designer Mark Rein-Hagen at White Wolf Publishing, as his next major role-playing game project after 1987's "Ars Magica". Designed as the first in a planned series of five annual games, "" was released in 1991, and was followed by "" (1992), "" (1993), "" (1994), and "" (1995), all set in the same world and using the Storyteller rule system. This rapid expansion with new games, although successful and capturing players' and the industry's interest, led to often flawed first editions, prompting several revised, new editions of the core rulebooks between 1992–2000, resulting in "Mage: The Ascension" morphing a lot between its editions as its themes changed. "Ars Magica" was initially tied to "World of Darkness" and used as a historical backdrop: its House Tremere was reused as a vampire clan in "Vampire: The Masquerade", and its Order of Hermes as a mage tradition in "Mage: The Ascension". The rights to "Ars Magica" were sold to Wizards of the Coast in 1994, and the histories of the games were separated.


title: World of Darkness

text: Rein-Hagen constantly moved on to designing new games after finishing one, designing all the original five games except "Mage: The Ascension", which was designed by White Wolf Publishing's founders, brothers Stewart and Steve Wieck, and Chris Earley; as such, new staff were brought in to manage the game lines, including Andrew Greenberg for "Vampire" and Bill Bridges for "Werewolf", who came to define the look and feel of the series. An economic downturn for White Wolf Publishing in 1995–1996, caused in part by bookstore returns for "World of Darkness" novelizations, led to a falling out between Rein-Hagen and the Wieck brothers, after which Rein-Hagen left the company. As the original planned five annual games had already been published, White Wolf Publishing next devised a new model of role-playing games with a historical setting based on previous games, resulting in "" (1996), "" (1997), and "" (1998), of which only "Vampire: The Dark Ages" sold well. This led to the cancellation of the underperforming "Wraith" line, with the release of the historical-setting "" and the 1999 supplement "Ends of Empire", which functioned as a finale to the game's metaplot.


title: World of Darkness

text: In 1997, White Wolf Publishing developed another model, where they would release a game that required another "World of Darkness" rule book to play, which thereby would get the same attention as a new stand-alone core game without requiring them to further support it with supplements; this was used for 1997's "" and 1998's "Kindred of the East", and the 2001 "Mummy" re-release "Mummy: The Resurrection". The two final major modern-day-setting "World of Darkness" role-playing games, "" and "", followed in 1999 and 2002, after which White Wolf Publishing returned to historical-setting games with "" and "Dark Ages: Vampire", a new edition of "Vampire: The Dark Ages", and a line of "Dark Ages" games based on other "World of Darkness" games that, like "Kindred of the East" and "Mummy", required a main game's rule book to be played. A final game, "Orpheus", was released in 2003 as a sequel to "Wraith".


title: World of Darkness

text: In 2004, following dwindling sales, White Wolf Publishing ended the series with the major event "Time of Judgment": a line of books that ended the overarching narratives of "Vampire: The Masquerade", "Werewolf: The Apocalypse", "Mage: The Ascension", "Changeling: The Dreaming", "Demon: The Fallen", "Hunter: The Reckoning", "Kindred of the East", and "Mummy: The Resurrection". Following this, White Wolf Publishing rebooted the "World of Darkness" series with the 2004 rulebook "The World of Darkness", and released new games with updated Storytelling System gameplay rules and a new setting, beginning with "" in 2004 and "" and "" in 2005.


title: World of Darkness

text: In 2006, the Icelandic video game developer CCP Games acquired White Wolf Publishing and their intellectual properties, with the intention of developing an online video game adaption of the "World of Darkness" series. Business continued as usual until 2009, when CCP Games started transferring White Wolf Publishing staff to video game development and slowed down tabletop game production.


title: World of Darkness

text: The CCP Games incarnation of White Wolf Publishing published their last print products for distribution in 2011, with "Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition", an update of the pre-reboot game. When CCP Games laid off large amounts of their staff the same year, leaving few resources to produce tabletop games, White Wolf Publishing's creative director Rich Thomas formed a new company, Onyx Path Publishing, which licensed both "World of Darkness" series, continuing support for them and producing new content. This included further anniversary editions, and new games like "" (2013) and "Demon: The Descent" (2014); these projects frequently used crowdfunding for financing.


title: World of Darkness

text: White Wolf Publishing and its intellectual properties were sold again in 2015, to the Swedish video game publisher Paradox Interactive. Following this, the rebooted "World of Darkness" series was renamed "Chronicles of Darkness", while the original series remained as "World of Darkness". This was done to prevent confusion among players over there being two series and settings with the same name: Prior to the renaming, the two had been distinguished from each other by being referred to as the "Old" or "Classic World of Darkness" and the "New World of Darkness". Onyx Path Publishing's in-development "Vampire: The Masquerade 4th Edition", which they had announced only a few months earlier, was cancelled following this, as Paradox Interactive planned to publish their own fifth edition.


title: World of Darkness

text: The Paradox Interactive incarnation of White Wolf Publishing released the fifth edition of "Vampire: The Masquerade" in 2018, which included references to neo-Nazis and a character interpreted as being a pedophile, leading to accusations that they were catering to neo-Nazi groups. White Wolf Publishing denied that this was their intention, and apologized. Following the use of the real-world anti-gay purges in Chechnya as the backdrop for fictional events in "Vampire: The Masquerade" sourcebooks, in what Paradox Interactive's vice president of business development described as a "crude and disrespectful" way, Paradox Interactive integrated White Wolf Publishing directly into the parent company, made changes to its leadership, suspended sales and printings of the books, and halted its development and publishing of "World of Darkness" games. The material was removed from the books, and "Vampire: The Masquerade" development was moved to the licensee Modiphius Entertainment and collaborators including Onyx Path Publishing.


title: World of Darkness

text: Starting with the 2020 book "Vampire: The Masquerade Companion", Paradox Interactive introduced further changes to the handling of the series: headed by creative lead Justin Achilli, they would develop core game books internally, while collaborator Renegade Game Studios would develop other game material. Along with this reorganization, Paradox Interactive announced that "World of Darkness" development from then on would involve sensitivity reviewers to ensure respectful portrayal of themes and topics. In addition to tabletop game development, the "World of Darkness" team at Paradox Interactive plans the setting's overarching narrative, and coordinates with external developers, such as those of "World of Darkness" video game adaptations, to ensure cohesion.


title: World of Darkness

text: In addition to the tabletop games, the series has expanded into other media, including video games, card and board games, the "Mind's Eye Theatre" series of live action role-playing games, novels, fiction anthologies, comics, the 1996 television series "", the actual play web series "L.A. by Night" (2018), "Seattle by Night" (2019), "Vein Pursuit" (2020), and "The Nightlife" (2021), and an in-development film and television franchise. Although "World of Darkness" multimedia projects slowed down under CCP Games, production began anew after Paradox Interactive acquired the series.


title: World of Darkness

text: A collectible card game based on "Vampire: The Masquerade" was released by Wizards of the Coast in 1994 as "Jyhad", before being re-launched a year later as ""; Wizards of the Coast continued publishing it until 1996, and then White Wolf took over, publishing it in 2000–2010. In 2018, Black Chantry Productions licensed "The Eternal Struggle", reprinting old cards and continuing production of the game. Following "The Eternal Struggle", White Wolf also published a collectible card game on their own, "Rage", based on "Werewolf: The Apocalypse", from 1995 to 1996, which was even more successful than "The Eternal Struggle"; Five Rings Publishing licensed it, and continued producing it in 1998–1999. Two other "Vampire: The Masquerade" card games, "Vendetta" and "Rivals", were released in 2021 by Horrible Guild and Renegade Game Studios, respectively. A story-based board game, "Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters", is in development by Flyos Games.