ISSN 2562-9948
Transforming the conditions of knowledge production
DIGITIZE THIS BOOK! is a new book by Gary Hall, recently published by the University of Minnesota Press (312 pages; ISBN 978-0-8166-4870-2; ISBN 978-0-8166-4871-9; Electronic Mediations Series, volume 24). Here is a short description provided by the publisher, along with a list of contents, and I have added emphasis to some of the elements that […]
Read More…On Oct. 13 I received an interesting announcement from Richard Price, a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, where he recently finished his Ph.D on the philosophy of perception. He has recently launched a website, http://www.academia.edu, which does two things: It displays academics around the world in a “tree” format, according to which institution/department they […]
Read More…Mark Bauerline’s essay, “Reading, Writing, and the Profession,” in The Chronicle Review: Brainstorm for this date deals with the increasingly apparent problem of expecting students to read a lot, and fast, while expecting faculty to publish a lot, and fast, a double crisis of overproduction and increased consumption that is part of the commercialization and […]
Read More…A little more deserves to be noted about the current announcement by the American Anthropological Association’s plans to consider revising its code of ethics, a topic of importance given the extent to which that same code is used for teaching purposes even outside of the United States. Overall, I think that the suggested revisions are […]
Read More…Here is a simple, factual observation [even this opening line is rendered comical by the critical questions and points that followed the publication of this deeply flawed post, maintained here only for the benefit of others who might learn from these mistakes]: Concordia University ranks first among Canada’s three institutions of higher learning …if one […]
Read More…This piece comes from University Affairs, a recommended site for news and analysis of Canadian higher education (emphasis has been added): October 2008 Where’s the debate? by Christine Overall Canadian universities are suffering from an ethical failure of nerve. Many of us have become diffident about our roles as professors, administrators, staff and students. We […]
Read More…“Intelligence does not have to be secret to be valuable!” — University of Military Intelligence, Open Source Resources ••••••• Stemming from a discussion initiated at Owen Wiltshire’s Another Anthro Blog, regarding a post by Owen titled, “Open Access and Anthropology — a free and easy interview,” I decided to develop my comments into a full […]
Read More…Sara has just announced the formal launch of a new collaborative blog, a blog of blogs, covering anthropology and sociology blogging. I am happy to be involved in what is now my third collaborative blogging activity. I think that Sara’s venture shows great promise and, quite unique, it also offers live chat for anthropology and […]
Read More…In the Washington Post article for which I was interviewed (I am the “but”, appropriately at the end), there was a suggestion that a project critical of U.S. foreign policy should be submitted to test the openness of the Minerva Research Initiative and its Pentagon-funded counterpart at the National Science Foundation. I do not recall […]
Read More…Thinking about Hugh Gusterson’s “The U.S. Military’s Quest to Weaponize Culture” prompted me to consider some current developments, as reported by various news agencies and one think tank, as indications of new conditions of knowledge production and the kinds of pressures and constraints orienting social science research toward specific ends. For some these are “constraints,” […]
Read More…Given the range and depth, not to mention the length, of some of the comments posted in discussion about the previous post, let me just direct readers to that discussion here, rather than repost everything on the front page. Everyone is welcome to participate, there is no comment moderation, and anonymity is allowed. Posting more […]
Read More…Before beginning, more than the usual word of caution to readers: added to the usual grain of salt, one should keep in mind that what follows is speculation based on current trends and news, a scratching of the analytical surface that is not intended to pose as a summary derived from an extensive research project. […]
Read More…How about that? Foreign Policy has released its rankings, based on ballots cast, of the world’s top 100 public intellectuals, and Columbia University based, Ugandan anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani is ranked 9th — well ahead of the likes of Stephen Colbert who is sure to make some fuss about his lesser status. You can see the […]
Read More…Not knowing where to begin, let me start with a list of links pertaining to resistance studies, militant ethnography, and some very interesting work by anthropologist Jeffrey Juris. RESISTANCE STUDIES A very comprehensive website, the purpose of which is described as follows: “In an attempt to remedy the lack of academic study in the field […]
Read More…By SSRC President Craig Calhoun I want to suggest four crucial ingredients of a more public social science that are not always stressed in such discussions. 1. Engagement with public constituencies must move beyond a dissemination model. It is not enough to say that first scientists will do whatever “pure” research moves them and then, […]
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ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY 