a series from John Postill: “Democracy in the age of viral reality” and a roundup academicus

Democracy in the age of viral reality (and 5) from media/anthropology by John Postill Continued from Democracy in the age of viral reality (4) Postmodernism as Rigorous Science from Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology ? A Group Blog by Rex My field methods seminar is wrapping up today and something happened in it … Read more

“Electronic Literature Collection” and more…

Electronic Literature Collection, Vol. 2 from Transliteracy Research Group by Christine Wilks   The Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 2, recently launched on the web, is an anthology of works by an international group of authors “that pushes through the boundaries of literary forms, creating new kinds of experiences for interacting readers.” Published by the Electronic … Read more

by the way, Wikileaks has a gift shop now…

  WikiLeaks Opens a Gift Shop [PICS] from Mashable! by Todd Wasserman Aiming to raise funds for both the controversial website and leader Julian Assange?s legal defense fund, WikiLeaks this month opened an online gift shop. 23/02/2011 – Five major newspapers debate Wikileaks in Madrid MADRID – Today the auditorium of the Reina Sofia museum … Read more

“The Rise of the ‘Edupunk’

The Rise of the ‘Edupunk’ At TIAA-CREF conference, higher ed braces for a new breed of tech-savvy students who won’t play by the old rules. more When Social Media Is Irrelevant At Sloan-C, academics discuss when fostering social intimacy in the online classroom environment is necessary, and when it might distract from more basic student … Read more

OkTrends survey: Gay Sex vs. Straight Sex

Gay Sex vs. Straight Sex Gay issues have been in the news a lot lately, from the debate over same-sex marriage in Congress to a sickening rash of gay-bashing here in New York City. We see a lot of emotion out there, instead of information, and we wanted to provide some data-based context on sexuality … Read more

TÜBA President represents the state of Turkish academia…

http://www.habervesaire.com/site_media/uploads/2008/05/26/serif_mardin.jpg

I always heard it as a gossip but a few days ago TÜBA (The Turkish Academy of Sciences) President Prof. Yücal Kanpolat made it official in my eyes: Prof. Şerif Mardin was not accepted as a member of the Academy because he “polished” Said Nursi too much. Prof. Kanpolat claims that not because Prof. Mardin studied on Said Nursi but because he praised him he was not accepted to the Academy.  Şerif Mardin is one of the best social scientists ever lived in modern Turkey and his work on Said Nursi (Religion and social change in modern Turkey: the case of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi) is probably the first sociological work on this religious figure. Because he did not explicitly demonize Said Nursi, he was “excommunicated”. Kemalist scholarly establishment could never forgive him while generations of social scientists relied on his many works to create a better understanding of the social…

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