Abstract: This article sheds light on the concerning decline and endangerment of the Belarusian language, em- phasizing its potential ethnocide during the time period of 1994-2023 and attribute the ethnocide to Lukashenko’s regime, it provides valuable insights into the challenges faced by the Belarusian language and its speakers in recent years. The article highlights the significance of language as an integral part of cultural heritage and identity, emphasizing the need for linguistic preservation efforts. It explores the impact of political changes on language policy, acknowledging that political regimes can play a crucial role in either fostering or suppressing linguistic diversity. By analyzing historical and contem- porary factors, the article underscores the complex relationship between language and power in Belarus. It discusses the influence of political regimes on language policies, including measures that have contributed to the marginalization of the Belarusian language and the dominance of Russian. This article provides a foundation for understanding the broader context in which linguistic suppression occurs. It highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing the challenges faced by the Belarusian language in order to safeguard linguistic diversity and preserve cultural heritage. This article is a valuable resource for researchers, linguists, policymakers, and individuals interested in understanding the dynamics of language endangerment and its implications for cultural identity. It encourages further exploration and analysis of the intricate rela- tionship between politics, language policy, and linguistic preservation efforts in Belarus and beyond. Keywords: Belarusian language, ethnocide, linguistic preservation, cultural heritage, political regime, language policy

An interdisciplinary study of hair through the art, philosophy, and science of fifteenth-century Florence. In this innovative cultural history, hair is the portal through which Emanuele Lugli accesses the cultural production of Lorenzo il Magnifico’s Florence. Lugli reflects on the ways writers, doctors, and artists expressed religious prejudices, health beliefs, and gender and class subjugation through alluring works of art, in medical and political writings, and in poetry. He considers what may have compelled Sandro Botticelli, the young Leonardo da Vinci, and dozens of their contemporaries to obsess over braids, knots, and hairdos by examining their engagement with scientific, philosophical, and theological practices. By studying hundreds of fifteenth-century documents that engage with hair, Lugli foregrounds hair’s association to death and gathers insights about human life at a time when Renaissance thinkers redefined what it meant to be human and to be alive. Lugli uncovers overlooked perceptions of hair when it came to be identified as a potential vector for liberating culture, and he corrects a centuries-old prejudice that sees hair as a trivial subject, relegated to passing fashion or the decorative. He shows hair, instead, to be at the heart of Florentine culture, whose inherent violence Lugli reveals by prompting questions about the entanglement of politics and desire.