Frontiers of Inquiry
Charting new intellectual territories across disciplines
Volume 1, Issue 2 — December 2025
Published December 2025
ISSN: 3069-8200
The Princeton Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (PJIR) presents its second issue, Frontiers of Inquiry, concluding the journal’s inaugural publishing year.
This issue builds on the momentum of Voices in Convergence by exploring the expanding boundaries of interdisciplinary thought. Through scientific innovation, social exploration, and theoretical reflection, Frontiers of Inquiry represents the next chapter in PJIR’s mission to amplify the voices of undergraduate and early-career researchers worldwide.
In recognition of outstanding scholarly contributions, Frontiers of Inquiry awards two Best Paper Awards in this issue. The first Best Paper Award is presented to "Burning with Purpose: Rethinking Power and Justice in Prescribed Burning" by Somtochukwu Arthur Attama of Pennsylvania State University, and the second Best Paper Award is presented to "The Paradox of Free Higher Education:
Examining the Impacts of No-Cost College Policy" by Joel Paulin Mendoza of Harvard Graduate School of Education. These papers exemplify intellectual rigor, originality, and the journal’s commitment to interdisciplinary research.
Editor’s Note
In a world where information moves quickly and knowledge is increasingly specialized, the work of research often begins with learning to look closely. We are trained to refine our focus, to define narrower and narrower questions, to master the language and methods of a specific field. This specialization has brought extraordinary progress. It allows scientists to map genetic pathways with precision, historians to reconstruct overlooked narratives, and philosophers to sharpen conceptual tools with clarity and depth. The ability to delve deeply is, without question, one of the great strengths of modern scholarship.
Yet there is also another truth: when the scope of research becomes too narrow, we risk losing sight of the broader landscape of inquiry. We may become experts in isolated systems of thought, fluent only in the conversations that circulate within a single discipline. But knowledge does not naturally exist in isolation. The world itself is interconnected—its questions overlap, its challenges rarely fall neatly into disciplinary categories. Climate change is not simply a scientific problem; mental health is not only a psychological one; technological advancement is not just an engineering achievement. Each demands ethical, cultural, historical, and humanistic reflection.
To “push the boundary” of research, then, is not to cast aside the value of specialization. Rather, it is to recognize that expertise becomes more powerful when it is placed in conversation with other forms of expertise. Interdisciplinary work invites us to step outside the familiar frameworks of our fields and to encounter different ways of thinking.
This requires humility and curiosity. It requires the patience to listen to concepts expressed in unfamiliar vocabulary, the willingness to approach a problem from an angle that may feel unconventional, and the openness to let our assumptions be unsettled. It is in these moments that new ideas first take shape—emerging not from the comfort of certainty, but from the meeting point of perspectives, methods, and questions.
As a research community, we benefit most when we ask not only “What do I know?” but also “What can I learn from others?” The conversations that arise from such questions are what enable scholarship to evolve—to move beyond repetition and toward discovery.
As a journal committed to fostering thoughtful, rigorous, and imaginative inquiry, we hope to serve as a space where such conversations can unfold. We welcome contributions that cross disciplinary thresholds, challenge inherited categories, and illuminate new ways of seeing.
PJIR Editorial Team
Articles in This Issue
Burning with Purpose: Rethinking Power and Justice in Prescribed Burning
Authors: Somtochukwu Arthur Attamah¹, Chukwuemezie Charles Emejuo², Uchenna Ezekiel Ugbala³, Ugochukwu Andrew Ozoani⁴
Affiliations: ¹Pennsylvania State University, ²University of Illinois, Springfield, ³University of Nigeria, Nsukka, ⁴University of New Haven
Keywords: prescribed burning, environmental ethics, sustainability indicators
Abstract: Prescribed burning has emerged as a critical forest management tool in a time of accelerating climate change and wildfire crises. However, it has ethical, social, and political implications beyond its ecological function. This paper evaluates the sustainability of prescribed burning through environmental ethics, indigenous knowledge systems, and value-based sustainability indicators...
No More Music? Beckett, Adorno and Culture after Auschwitz
Author: Benjamin Waterer
Affiliation: Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford
Keywords: Beckett, Adorno, music, the Holocaust, Romanticism
Abstract: The works of Samuel Beckett often feature authorial instructions to play Romantic music in them: a trio of Beethoven’s, Schubert’s Lieder and a Chopin waltz. Though much has been made of his love for Romantic music in his personal life, musical analysis of his works often revolves around American modernism and serialism, typically neglecting these Romantic influences...
The Paradox of Free Higher Education:
Examining the Impacts of No-Cost College Policy
Author: Joel Paulin Mendoza
Affiliation: Harvard Graduate School of Education
Keywords: education policy, higher education, free college education
Abstract: Globally, there has been a concerted effort to implement free tertiary education in public universities and colleges. This study conducts a systematic literature review to examine existing evidence on the impact of free college education policies. Preliminary findings indicate that the removal of tuition fees enhances access to higher education...
Leveraging Machine Learning and Feature
Extraction from Physiological Signals for Multimodal Emotion Detection and Mental Health Support
Author: Ashvik Raina
Affiliation: Cambridge Center of International Research
Keywords: physiological signals, emotions, machine learning, feature extraction, classification
Abstract: Mental health conditions like anxiety and depression often involve emotional dysregulation, but most methods used to measure emotions depend on people’s own subjective reports. The goal of this study is to use signal processing and machine learning to create a system that can objectively classify emotional states...
Citation for This Issue
Princeton Journal of Interdisciplinary Research. (2025). Volume 1, Issue 2 — Frontiers of Inquiry. PJIR.
https://www.princeton-press.com/pjir/issues/vol-1-issue-2
Open Access Statement
This journal is fully open access. All articles are freely available to read, download, and share without subscription or access barriers. We encourage scholars to cite and engage with the research published here, as such scholarly exchange plays an important role in supporting emerging and early-career researchers and advancing ongoing academic conversations.