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Jacob Boehme
No full textThere have been few more polarizing figures in early modern religious history than Jacob Boehme (b. c. 1575–d. 1624). He has been regarded as a divinely illuminated genius by his most devoted disciples yet also reviled in equal measure by his fiercest critics as an incomprehensible, ignorant heretic. According to the reckoning of his first biographer, Boehme was the author of thirty works, many of which are extremely long and difficult. These were all written in German, although several have Latin titles. Whether by choice or circumstance, some writings remained unfinished. Remarkably, very little has been lost with the exception of some minor treatises. In addition, much of Boehme’s extensive correspondence survives. A Lutheran by birth, by formative religious instruction and steadfastly at his death, Boehme’s major theological concerns were with the nature of creation and how it came into being, the origin and presence of evil, and the attainment of salvation through a process of inward spiritual regeneration and rebirth. Nonetheless, influenced initially by the teachings of Paracelsus and the Spiritual Reformers Caspar Schwenckfeld and Valentin Weigel, as well as by popular alchemical and astrological texts, and then, following the clandestine circulation of his first incomplete book “Aurora” in manuscript, a widening social network of friends, learned correspondents, and noble patrons, Boehme began developing certain heretical views. These included his understanding of the Trinity, which he was accused of denying through the introduction of a fourth figure, Sophia (symbolizing the Noble Virgin of Divine Wisdom); his explanations for the fall of Lucifer and the rebel angels (constituting a first fall preceding the second fall of humanity from paradise); Adam’s prelapsarian androgynous nature; the existence of seven qualities (dry, sweet, bitter, fire, love, sound, and corpus); and the three principles that corresponded to the dark world, light world, and our temporal visible world. Moreover, having settled and established himself as a shoemaker at Görlitz in Upper Lusatia, and writing against a backdrop of vibrant scientific, astronomical, and medical enquiry; damaging regional political struggles, religious polemic, apocalyptic speculation; and the earliest phase of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), Boehme interposed himself—ignorantly and presumptuously according to his better-educated critics—in important doctrinal debates over the nature of free will and the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper by expounding an irenic, anticlerical message. This culminated in his announcement of an impending Great Reformation, a new age of love, patience, peace, and joy
Decomputing come atto di resistenza - Prima parte [Italian translation of 'Decomputing as Resistance']
No full textQuesto intervento – che Controversie pubblica in due parti, questa e la prossima settimana – è intitolato “Decomputing as Resistance“. In esso, sosterrò che l’IA contemporanea rivela alcune falle nell’apparente connessione senza “cuciture visibili” (seamless) di tutte le tecnologie digitali del nostro sistema attuale, con evidenze che non possono essere ignorate. Proporrò che l’IA sia di per sé un problema tecnico; un balbettante passo falso dell’ordine neoliberista che ne suggerisce l’intrinseco disordine
Le « decomputing » comme acte de résistance – Partie 1 [French translation of 'Decomputing as Resistance']
No full textCe texte 1 – scindé en une partie 1 et partie 2 - est intitulé « Le décomputing comme résistance ». J'y soutiendrai que l'IA contemporaine révèle les coutures de notre système actuel d'une manière qui ne peut être ignorée, mais doit être combattue. Quiconque a utilisé un grand modèle de langage pendant un certain temps connaît leur propension aux hallucinations et aux bugs
Commensality and food
No full textCommensality, or eating together, is a basic practice of human sociality often associated with bonding and intimacy, hospitality and reciprocity, as well as cooperation and conviviality. Through embodied and symbolic practices of food sharing, commensality articulates group identities and belonging. Hierarchical norms that govern the material organisation of collective meals contribute to the transmission of cultural practices and values, and expose inequalities regarding status, class, race and gender. Therefore, anthropologists and sociologists have studied commensality as a way of understanding the different cultural systems that inform eating practices and the organisation of societies. Recently, the perceived decline of the family meal in modern Western societies has spurred empirical research into its potential impact on people's wellbeing, health and nutrition. The sensuous dimensions of food sharing are also perceived to play an important role in fostering positive multicultural relationships. Thus, commensality remains a complex, multidisciplinary and expanding research field
A Critical Exploration of Whiteness and Intersectionality in British Higher Education: Am I Invisible?
No full textThis chapter explores the intersection of whiteness, social class, body images, and sense of belonging in higher education through theoretical discussions of whiteness in British sociology combined with an autoethnographic approach. By interweaving personal reflections as a white, female postgraduate student of higher weight from a working-class background with critical engagement with previous studies of whiteness and racialisation, we explore how multiple aspects of identity shape experiences of belonging in higher education. The discussion focuses particularly on how whiteness operates alongside other individual, demographic, and socio-economic factors including body sizes and social class, to influence institutional experiences. We believe that implementing concrete measures is essential for creating more inclusive environments in higher education. This involves reimagining physical spaces, challenging assumptions about identity and belonging, and fostering a culture that genuinely values diverse experiences and perspectives
Reducing Foreign Language Anxiety in Icebreaker Sessions Using LLM-Controlled Multilingual Virtual Agents in VR
Get PDFWe explored how a Large Language model-powered multilingual virtual agent can reduce foreign language anxiety (FLA) in a VR-based icebreaker scenario. Our agent supports hybrid language interaction—accepting input in either English or the user’s native language, while responding in English. Ten participants interacted with the agent using both language modes. Quantitative results showed reduced subjective FLA after the English session, compared to their real-world experience, and increased external focus when using their native language (vs English). Qualitative findings suggested that participants experienced greater anxiety in understanding compared to speech production, while language switching also imposed additional cognitive costs
Data Practices and Privacy in Gaming: A Consolidated Cross‐Platform Analysis of Publishing Platforms, Online Multiplayer Games and Community Sites
No full textVideo games are mainstream cultural artefacts that millions engage with every day, constituting an increasingly data-intensive aspect of people's leisure time. Previous research has established the foundational role data plays in the production and distribution of video games, as well as the management of gamers as platform users and advertising audiences. This study consolidates this view and establishes a baseline of data practices in gaming. Addressing a broad audience of privacy researchers and policy stakeholders, the aim of the study is to provide a comparative analysis of gaming data privacy against other digital platform domains and social media use cases. To this end, the study presents the results of a qualitative analysis that investigated 37 cases of online multiplayer games, video game publishing platforms and online community sites. By analysing their privacy policies, the study sketches the common data practices in the gaming context and lays the foundations for future systematic research on user privacy, trust and literacy amongst gamers and enables cross-disciplinary engagement with gaming and the gaming data subject position
Hyperrealism and the Portrayal of Women in South Korean Webtoons
No full textThis article looks at “hyperrealism” and the representation of women and feminism in South Korean webtoons. The webtoon genres of “daily life” and “slice-of-life” act as forms of self-expression and tell relatable stories. However, hyperrealism, a term Koreans use to describe specific webtoons, adds a layer of nuance to this. This article shows how participants in the study use the term “hyperrealism” to denote an exaggerated look into the lives of women in Korea, amplifying the particular struggles women face. Hyperreal webtoons enable women to have a voice and to identify with the issues they see in the webtoon stories. Examples of hyperreal webtoons include Daughter-in-Law, Having a Baby Comic, Decorset Diary, and The History of Seong Gyeong, among others. This article argues that hyperreal webtoons exist as a form of representation to facilitate feminism. They do so by allowing expressions of misogyny, violence, sexism, and banal examples of patriarchal oppressions to exist
‘Faith’ in Funerals? Robust attenuation or terminal decline? Religious and spiritual presences in a post- pandemic funeral landscape
Get PDFThis article analyses the fluid and rapidly evolving funeral event landscape in England and Wales with a view to locating the role and presence of faith within these changes.
The article draws on recent multi-stranded research which collates the views, perspectives and experiences of key stakeholders in the funeral experience including funeral arrangers, independent celebrants and those attached to religious institutions, and families living with bereavement. It has triangulated these narratives
with survey data and analysis of 1000 funeral service plans which detail the choice of music and readings (including religiously based items).
This article focuses on the experiences of those on the front line of negotiating the development of the new funeral space within an ongoing secularly framed milieu, with an increasing emphasis on individuation, personalisation and choice, and including further
practices of sequestration of the body of the deceased and the disaggregation of the costs of the funeral by the use of specially-designed apps.
The article identifies and explains how the presence and role of faith in the form of religious and spiritual items
in the funeral event, although attenuated compared to the context 20 years ago, remains robustly and consistently present within current practice