3,389 research outputs found
Trick 17: Mediengeschichten zwischen Zauberkunst und Wissenschaft
Full text link"Der Zauber der Medien speist sich aus ihrem Geheimnis: Den Usern von heute sind Laptop, Smartphone oder Tablet eine Blackbox, die ihre Sinne im Bann hält und die Techniktricks im Inneren hinter einer opaken Oberfläche verbirgt. Doch solche Verzauberung ist nicht neu. Um ihr auf die Spur zu kommen, nähert sich dieses Buch der Mediengeschichte der Zauberei an der Schwelle zwischen magischem Moment und Ent-Täuschung. Nicht selten folgt einer geradezu übernatürlich wirkenden Zaubervorführung die wissenschaftliche Erklärung und Offenlegung ihrer Tricks. Ein solcher Akt der Entzauberung mag zwar magische Momente als faulen Zauber demaskieren. Er rückt dafür jedoch die Technologien der Täuschung ins Rampenlicht: Erst die Ausnutzung physikalischer Gesetze, das Konstruieren mechanischer Zauberapparate und das Spiel mit der Wahrnehmung der Zuschauer machen deren 'Verzauberung' möglich. Sie erlaubt, die Frage nach Wissen, dem medialen Zugriff auf unsere Sinne und dem sinnlichen Zugriff auf unsere Welt erneut zu stellen." (Autorenreferat
Episode 35: Alexis Castellanos, Author of “Isla to Island”, and Her Panel Presentation during the Operación Pedro Pan Two-Day Event
No full textIn Part 1 of “Operación Pedro Pan: The Voices and Stories of Cuba’s Child Exodus—A Knights HistoryCast Mini-Series,” the Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Alexis Castellanos, an author, illustrator, graphic novelist, and a panelist at the esteemed, conspicuous, and powerful “Operación Pedro Pan: Honoring the Cultural, Historical Legacy of Cuba’s Child Exodus” Two-Day Program that Florida Humanities, UCF’s Department of English and Department of Modern Languages and Literatures sponsored (see https://cah.ucf.edu/pedro-pan/ for more details on sponsors and the program in general).
Sebastian structured this specific episode on Alexis Castellanos’ Isla to Island, a wordless graphic novel grounded by her personal family history and the history of Operación Pedro Pan (Operation Peter Pan). By analyzing such a historic event through the medium of fiction, Sebastian argued that this is one of the most unique Knights HistoryCast episodes of all time. Naturally, their conversation expanded to what she talked about during her panel presentation in Panel One, Day 1 of the event that featured “internationally renowned scholars that discussed the political, historical, and cultural legacy of Operación Pedro Pan (1960-1962).” (https://cah.ucf.edu/pedro-pan/)
To purchase Isla to Island (strongly recommend), check out: https://islatoisland.com/.
To find out more about Alexis and her professional work, check out her website at https://alexiscastellanos.com/https://stars.library.ucf.edu/knightshistorycast/1034/thumbnail.jp
"Cronica der Turckey" Sebastian Franck's Translation of the "Tractatus de Moribus, Condicionibus et Nequitia Turcorum" by Georgius de Hungaria
Full text linkThe Tractatus de moribus, condicionibus et nequitia Turcorum is one of the most important first-hand accounts of life in fifteenth-century Turkey known to modern scholarship. It is the work of a Christian former slave of the Turks, writing after his return to the West. Although the author does not name himself, he can be identified as a
Dominican priest, Georgius de Hungaria, who died in Rome in 1502. His Tractatus is conceived as a work of anti-Islamic polemic, yet it contains a surprisingly unbiased appraisal of Turkish customs.
First printed c.1480 when European apprehension in the face of Ottoman expansion was at its height, the Tractatus was reprinted in numerous editions, and was widely used as a
source by other authors. Luther edited the text in 1530, using the positive account of Turkish customs and religious observance as a weapon in his polemic against the Roman
Catholic Church: if heathens could perform such exemplary works, who could fail to doubt the efficacy of works as a means of salvation?
Sebastian Franck in his German translation of the Tractatus went further: replacing Georgius' commentary with his own, he used the text to attack institutional religion as a
whole and to promote his concept of a non-dogmatic, spiritual Church of individuals united with each other only through their union with God -a Church which was not closed to Moslems or members of any other creed. This translation or adaptation, the Cronica der Türckey, marks Franck's decisive break with the Lutheran cause and the beginning of his lonely path as a 'spiritual individualist'. Franck reworked his translation of the Tractatus for his major geographical work, the Weltbuch of 1534.
This thesis concerns itself primarily with Franck's Cronica, providing the first modern critical edition of this text, in a near-diplomatic transcription with an extensive glossary. The thesis also includes transcriptions of the Tractatus; of Türckei, an anonymous translation of the Tractatus, and of relevant additional material from Franck's Weltbuch. None of these texts has been published in full in a modern edition.
In the Introduction Franck's Cronica is compared in detail with the Tractatus, highlighting the changes that occur in translation; the character and the significance of these changes are then discussed. It is established that Franck, whilst being unwilling to reverse any of Georgius' value judgements on Islam and Turkish culture, is highly selective in his choice of material for translation, and frequently gives the text new nuances and adds his own
comment. The question of the Tractatus' influence on Franck's further development as a writer and thinker is also raised.
The investigation then turns to Franck's use of the Tractatus material in his Weltbuch. His eclecticism becomes apparent in this text, in which Georgius' account is juxtaposed - but not synthesised - with material from other sources, often of lesser veracity and greater anti-Islamic bias. Franck's distortion of the Tractatus material to suit his own line of argument is clearly discernible: from the unique phenomenon presented in the Tractatus the Turks
become one more example of the general human tendency to externalise and dogmatise faith.
In addition, the transmission of Cronica and Türckei is examined, and the relationship between these two translations is clarified: Franck certainly used Türckei in writing his Cronica, but is unlikely to be the author of the anonymous work
2. A Human Being to Be Remembered | The 2024 UCF VLP Podcast Series
No full textIn Episode Two, Andrew Carroll’s herculean efforts to seek and collect over 210,000 war letters—that span since the American Revolution—demonstrate how others are as seriously committed to preserving the legacies of the men and women who served and fought for their country. Andrew shares several letters from his impressive collection, allowing us to be as close as possible to the Veterans—engaging with their own words, thoughts, and emotions. Indeed, themes central to UCF VLP are often exemplified in the 210,000 war letters Andrew has preserved for over twenty-five years.
Andrew Carroll is an award-winning historian and author and is the founder and director of the Center for American War Letters at Chapman University. Andrew was the second keynote speaker invited to share his extraordinary work during the 2024 UCF VLP Institute.
This episode was directed, produced, written, edited, and hosted by Sebastian Garcia and featured Andrew Carroll.
Executive Producers: Sebastian Garcia and Dr. Amelia Lyons.
Music: “Honor and Glory” and “Real Heroes” by SergePavkinMusic (Pixabay)
Podcast Cover Artwork: Sebastian Garcia
The 2024 UCF VLP Podcast Series is brought to you by the UCF History Department Podcast Network and UCF’s Veterans Legacy Program—a partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/knightshistorycast/1051/thumbnail.jp
Wang Tao’s Diary: excerpts Translated by Sebastian Eicher
No full textIn a little regarded episode from Wang Tao’s diaries, the author tells us about a two-week long journey from Shanghai to Hangzhou and to the West Lake. Wang Tao undertook this journey together with the missionary Griffith John, who at that time was trying to find ways to preach the gospel outside the treaty port of Shanghai. We know the rough outline of this journey from Griffith John’s writings, as it was the second half of a longer journey along the Grand Canal. But Wang Tao’s presence and his notes on it have so far been neglected. This is a loss, as the diary Wang Tao kept offers not only a personal and lively account of the journey, it also gives us some insight in the Chinese perception of the missionaries’ activities and a description of the Hangzhou era before the Taiping would ravage it only a bit more than a year later
Episode 31: Professor Paul W. Wehr Day at the Pioneer Days Pine Castle Historical Society History Tent Event
No full textThe Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Mr. Richard Lee Cronin, author, historian, and event coordinator of the Pine Castle Historical Society HISTORY TENT, at the Annual Pine Castle Pioneer Days Event.
This episode is dedicated to and is in honor of Professor Paul W. Wehr.
A Professor of History at UCF since the Department’s inception in 1969, Professor Wehr retired in 1995 after 25 years of teaching his passion for history—inspiring countless students and faculty. Professor Wehr devoted much of his time to documenting the history of Orange County, specifically Pine Castle. This naturally led to a close relationship with the Pine Castle Historical Society, which dedicated Day 1 of the 2-day event at Pioneer Days to Professor Wehr for the first time this year. Sebastian decided to pay tribute to one of UCF’s original history professors by going to the Pine Castle Pioneer Days HISTORY TENT event dedicated to him and produced a podcast on location with Mr. Richard Lee Cronin, who knew Professor Wehr personally.
Below are links to an Orlando Memory interview featuring Professor Wehr himself that Sebastian mentioned in the introduction of this podcast, the page to know more about his books and association with Pine Castle, and a UCF CAH article written about Professor Wehr shortly after his passing in 2021. https://orlandomemory.info/topics/oral-history-interview-with-dr-paul-w-wehr/ https://www.pinecastlehistory.org/publications-books-pamphlets/ https://news.cah.ucf.edu/news/remembering-paul-w-wehr/https://stars.library.ucf.edu/knightshistorycast/1030/thumbnail.jp
Cosmoscepsia Catholica, Das ist/ Allgemeiner Weltlauff/ und was sich denckwürdiges unnd newes in der gehelen gantzen Welt/ sowol in Geistlichen als Weltlichen Sachen verlauffen und zugetragen / Mit schönen Kupfferstücken gezieret/ und in Truck gegeben: Durch M. Sebastianum Prennern ...
No full textSwarm Robotics, or: The Smartness of 'a bunch of cheap dumb things'
Full text linkNot only recent Science Fiction – e.g., Star Trek Beyond (USA 2016) – celebrates the capacities of robot collectives. Also RoboCup, an annual robot soccer competition, or Harvard University’s Kilobot Project show stunning examples of the central idea behind Swarm Robotics: »[U]sing swarms is the same as getting a bunch of small cheap dumb things to do the same job as an expensive smart thing« (Beni/Wang 1989). This article examines some crucial aspects of the techno-history of a research field which intertwines engineering and biological knowledge and whose applications deal with compelling questions about synchronization and self-organization in changing environments – on the ground, in the air, and under water
Computational Swarming: A Cultural Technique for Generative Architecture
Full text linkAfter a first wave of digital architecture in the 1990s, the last decade saw some approaches where agent-based modelling and simulation (ABM) was used for generative strategies in architectural design. By taking advantage of the self-organisational capabilities of computational agent collectives whose global behaviour emerges from the local interaction of a large number of relatively simple individuals (as it does, for instance, in animal swarms), architects are able to understand buildings and urbanscapes in a novel way as complex spaces that are constituted by the movement of multiple material and informational elements. As a major, zoo-technological branch of ABM, Computational Swarm Intelligence (SI) coalesces all kinds of architectural elements – materials, people, environmental forces, traffic dynamics, etc. – into a collective population. Thereby, SI and ABM initiate a shift from geometric or parametric planning to time-based and less prescriptive software tools.
Agent-based applications of this sort are used to model solution strategies in a number of areas where opaque and complex problems present themselves – from epidemiology to logistics, and from market simulations to crowd control. This article seeks to conceptualise SI and ABM as a fundamental and novel cultural technique for governing dynamic processes, taking their employment in generative architectural design as a concrete example. In order to avoid a rather conventional application of philosophical theories to this field, the paper explores how the procedures of such technologies can be understood in relation to the media-historical concept of Cultural Techniques
Neighborhood sounding. An archaeology of dynamic media networks 1960-1980 | 2010
No full texthttps://www.diaphanes.net/titel/neighborhood-technologies-251
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