Catalysts of Change
Ideas Shaping Tomorrow
Volume 2, Issue 1 — July 2026
Published July 2026
ISSN: 3069-8200
The Princeton Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (PJIR) opens its second publishing year with Catalysts of Change: Ideas Shaping Tomorrow. This issue brings together a diverse collection of peer-reviewed scholarship examining the forces transforming contemporary society, from scientific and technological innovation to evolving social, political, and economic systems.
The research featured in this volume explores how new ideas emerge, spread, and influence the future of communities, institutions, and global development. Across disciplines, authors investigate complex challenges and opportunities through rigorous analysis, demonstrating how interdisciplinary approaches can generate deeper insight into the interconnected nature of today's world.
As PJIR enters its second year, this issue reaffirms the journal's commitment to publishing research that not only advances knowledge within individual fields but also fosters meaningful dialogue across disciplinary boundaries. Together, these contributions highlight the vital role of scholarship in understanding and shaping the future.
All accepted articles are published online under ISSN 3069-8200.
Editor’s Note
Serious scholarship often begins with a single, well-defined question. Yet the moment we follow that question far enough, we find it rarely stays in one place. Questions about attention become questions about education and equity. Questions about algorithms become questions about trust and accountability. Questions about biological systems quickly intersect with questions about human experience. This issue brings together work that reflects precisely this movement across boundaries.
In this volume, we are proud to feature research on ADHD, the effects of racial bias in dermatology datasets on convolutional neural networks, the emerging legal terrain of deepfakes, sustainable building materials, structural inequality, developments in the life sciences, and more. The issue also includes work engaging questions of religion and belief, examining gender and social identity, and exploring problems in linguistics, and more.
We celebrate interdisciplinary scholarship not as a slogan, but as a practice. The work collected here demonstrates careful technical reasoning alongside ethical awareness and social sensitivity. It shows that strong research does not dilute disciplinary rigor; rather, it is often strengthened when scholars remain attentive to the wider implications of their methods and findings.
PJIR Editorial Team
Articles in This Issue
Measuring Division: The Language of Dissent in the Supreme Court and American Polarization
Authors: Rohan Srivatsa¹, Katherine Ireland Ph.D.², Sophia Nguyen³, Jason Eappen⁴
Affiliation: University of Georgia Athens, Georgia, United States
Abstract: Political polarization in the United States has been widely examined through legislative behavior, electoral politics, and mass political discourse. Far less attention, however, has been paid to how polarization is discursively constructed within elite judicial institutions. This paper examines how ideological conflict is enacted and negotiated through the language of dissenting opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Keywords: Diachronic Corpus Analysis, Supreme Court Dissents, Institutional Discourse, Political Polarization, Evaluative Language
How Effective are Large Language Models at Detecting Security Vulnerabilities?
Author: Stuart D. Tioniwar
Affiliation: Cambridge Centre for International Research
Abstract: With the prevalence of software systems and digitized information, (cyber) security vulnerabilities have also become an important focus. Large Language Models (LLMs) have been seen as potential agents in detecting these vulnerabilities. However, the question of "how effective can LLMs be in this role?" arises.
Keywords: LLM (Large Language Model), vulnerability detection, prompts, performance
From Drop-Shipped to the Divine: Devotional Kitsch, Gamer Saints, and Popular Catholic Iconography
Author: Sophia Day
Affiliation: Department of Art History, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
Abstract: Devotional objects for Catholic saints often conjure a specific visual language in the minds of believers, from small medallions depicting meditative portraits to softly glowing oil paintings adorning the fronts of prayer cards. Despite the Catholic Church’s prominent role in the Western art historical canon, for everyday Catholics, its visual legacy is as much the kitschy tropes of saint cards and candles - the objects of everyday devotion - as it is the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel.
Keywords: iconography, kitsch, Catholic art, visual culture, Carlo Acutis
Stem Cell Therapy in Athletes with Skeletal Muscle Overuse Injuries
Author: Sarah Gluzman-Chuang
Affiliation: Cambridge Centre for International Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Abstract: Overuse injuries account for 50% of the annual 3.5 million injuries sustained by athletes ages 6 to 18 in the United States. Traditional treatments, including the RICE principle, NSAIDs, physical therapy, and surgery, often fail to fully regenerate damaged tissue due to their reliance on the body’s natural healing mechanisms.
Keywords: biomedical engineering, cell and tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, mesenchymal stem cells, skeletal muscle
Citation for This Issue
Princeton Journal of Interdisciplinary Research. (2026). Volume 2, Issue 1 — Catalysts of Change. PJIR.
https://www.princeton-press.com/pjir/issues/vol-2-issue-1
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.