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Harvesting Underground: (re)generative theories and vegetal analogies in the early modern debate on mineral ores (I)
Full text linkThe early modern use of vegetal terms to explain the origin and growth of ores was widespread in mining industry, alchemy, and natural philosophy. In the writings of authors from many different backgrounds, mineral veins were often described as ‘trees’ which moved upwards, bore fruits, and underwent a life cycle. Accordingly, the existence in ores of ‘seeds’ (and, therefore, of a (re)generative power) was frequently invoked to explain the apparent similarities between minerals and plants. This method of describing mineral processes—called here the botanical model—also had a lasting terminological influence, as is attested by various expressions that are still common among miners and scientists. The notions underlying these terms are part of a larger body of ‘organic interpretations’ of mineral resources that endured into the eighteenth century and contributed to the development of the Earth sciences, mining industry, and the human–environment relationship. In focusing mainly on the rise of the botanical model in Renaissance Europe, this essay is the first part of a more extensive study (to be completed in a forthcoming paper) on the evolution of this important concept and its interaction with the new science throughout the early modern period
Novel Dialogue 5.6 A Forensic Level of Honesty: Aminatta Forna and Nicole Rizzuto (AV)
No full textAminatta Forna, author of Ancestor Stones (2006), Happiness (2018), and most recently The Window Seat (2021) joins Georgetown prof. Nicole Rizzuto and host Aarthi Vadde for a wide-ranging conversation about reversing the gaze. Aminatta is deeply aware of the power to look, to define, and to control the narrative. Although she accepts the moniker of “African writer,” she sees it as the creation of a European way of looking at other parts of the world and rejects the double-standard of authenticity it implies. Aminatta is from Sierra Leone, but has Scottish and Malian ancestry and grew up around the world. Her mixed upbringing led her to develop a prismatic view of identity, and she chafes against the Conradian image of Africa, which infused so many of her own literary encounters with her home continent. In response to these distortions, Aminatta describes developing a “forensic level of honesty” that allowed her to re-encounter Sierra Leone on her own terms. She also learned to look back at those who would look at her.
Reversing the gaze extends not only from Africa to Europe but also to the human-animal divide. Aminatta and Nicole reconsider Western stereotypes around African animal cruelty, what it means to portray animal consciousness, and what the treatment of dogs in Sierra Leone and foxes in London tells us about what those societies value. Finally, Aminatta reads from Ancestor Stones and offers a chilling vision of the civil war in Sierra Leone through the dissociated perspective of a character inspired by the women who lived through it. Listeners will feel the “underground rising” in Aminatta’s memorable phrase
Superficies de las imágenes: entre el parecer, el aparecer y el desaparecer
Full text linkLas imágenes están apresadas en su estrecha relación con aquello a lo que hacen referencia. Buena parte de la tradición crítica y de los estudios de la imagen se abocan en restituir o, incluso, salvar las distancias que las imágenes abren entre el aparecer y el parecer. En ocasiones, esta peligrosa distancia permite a la imagen abrirse a lo falso, pero también al engaño o a la seducción. La distancia con el referente o, si se quiere, la posibilidad de falsear, reside en la superficialidad de la imagen, en aquello que no permite el acceso directo a lo profundo: el significado o el discurso que debe traerse a la luz. Parecería que para acceder a la verdad de las imágenes su superficie debe desgarrarse, trascender la apariencia, susceptible al engaño, y dejar ver aquello verdadero que la superficie de la imagen opacaba. En última instancia, pareciera que las imágenes tendrían que quedar destruidas, dejar de aparecer y de parecerse, para acercarnos verdaderamente a aquello que engañosamente asemejan. Pero, al mismo tiempo, hay imágenes cuya destrucción se lamenta, donde se ansía el rescate de su frágil superficie: las imágenes de recuerdos entrañables o de seres queridos, el legado cultural en riesgo de ser destruido o la falta de evidencias de una atrocidad que ha quedado eliminada de los archivos. Las imágenes no dejan de disputarse entre su apariencia y su desaparición, entre aquello a lo que refieren y las formas de dar a ver esa referencia
Sonja Ammann, Helge Bezold, Stephen Germany, and Julia Rhyder, eds. Collective Violence and Memory in the Ancient Mediterranean. CHANE 135. Leuven: Brill, 2023.
Full text linkThis Open Access volume reveals how violent pasts were constructed by ancient Mediterranean societies, the ideologies they served, and the socio-political processes and institutions they facilitated. Combining case studies from Anatolia, Egypt, Greece, Israel/Judah, and Rome, it moves beyond essentialist dichotomies such as “victors” and “vanquished” to offer a new paradigm for studying representations of past violence across diverse media, from funerary texts to literary works, chronicles, monumental reliefs, and other material artefacts such as ruins. It thus paves the way for a new comparative approach to the study of collective violence in the ancient world
Generative AI Writing Course Framework
No full textA lesson plan outlining a two-part activity that establishes a framework within which students productively wrestle with the place of generative AI in their learning and writing processes, thereby creating the space for instructor and students to arrive at a collective agreement about the use of these tools in the course grounded in a clear set of shared values and principles that meaningfully frames the forthcoming work. This activity works best early in the term (for instance, Week 1) before any significant out-of-class writing has been assigned. It not only helps build parameters that pedagogically and practically support students in their course writing but also helps build a sense of community in the classroom. It also models the intellectual moves we want students to make as critical readers and analytical writers
مستقبل الصحافة: الصحافة الشبكية إعادة التفكير في الصحافة في العصر الرقمي الشبكي
Full text linkيتحدث المقال عن مستقبل الصحافة في ظل التطورات التكنولوجية التي يعرفها العالم اليوم والمتمثلة أساسا في العصر الرقمي ووسائطه ومختلف ممارساته، والتي جعلت الصحافة في أزمة نظرا لظهور منافسين جدد من خارج المهنة والمهنيين من بينهم المدونون والمصورون وصانعي المحتوى.
وقد توصلت الدراسة إلى أن الصحافة ملزمة بمشاركة المعلومات وتوزيعها مع شبكة من المصادر الجديدة والتي تعرف بالمصادر الجماهيرية بحيث ليس باستطاعة الصحفي العمل لوحده كما في السابق.
كما أن من المسؤوليات والمهام الجديدة التي يجب ان تعمل عليها الصحافة مستقبلا هي التنقيب عن البيانات، تحليلها، وتصويرها إضافة الى رسم الخرائط، لذا فالصحفي يجب اأن يتوفر على مهارات جديدة أو يعمل بالموازاة مع المتخصصين في البرمجيات، التصميم وحتى قراصنة الأنترنت للحصول على المعلومات الرقمية، إضافة للصحافة المرئية التي يتم فيها دمج مصادر النص والفيديو والتي تتجسد في الصحافة الغامرة، الصحافة الآلية أو صحافة الروبوتات