Social Science
Franklin and the complexities of American national identity
Franklin as inventor, socialite and statesman, and take a look at the Tercentenary Exhibition in his honor, now open in Philadelphia.
Transformation of symbols across cultural borders
Author Behzad Yaghmaian spent two years traveling with Muslim migrants and collected their stories on safe houses, bribes, police custody, and human trafficking. He talks about his book, Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West.
Complexities of representation of women in traditional narrative
Christmas season's TV brings a lot of classic stories back to people's narrative environment. Many of these contain complex and multilayered representations of humanity's quest for self-understanding. These narratives play other roles, as well, connected to the psychological well-being of individuals. They are broadcast in moments of communal and familial rituals designed to promote group cohesion and they play a performative role, as well.
Individuality and culturality of psychotherapeutic needs
BBC - Radio 4 - All in the Mind
It's just under a year since the Tsunami devastated coastal communities around the Indian Ocean . Raj reports from his recent visit to the Tamil Nadu region of India with the charity Action Aid, where he met some of the people affected, and observed the work that's being done on the emotional rebuilding of their lives.
CADAAD - Conference on Discourse Analysis
I am coorganizing a conference Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines (CADAAD) to be held at the University of East Anglia on June 29-30, 2006. The first call for papers goes out today. More on http://discourse.uea.ac.uk.
My Week In Thought and Hermeneutic Suspicion
My Week In Thought
This PBS essay neatly summarizes almost all the arguments I would ever make - or in some cases have made - in defense of video gaming.
OK, there may be a fine line between vanity and self-referentiality but here we go.
Consequences of video games - and the cognitive aspects of data interpretation
The Video Game Revolution: "Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked" by Henry Jenkins | PBS
The availability of video games has led to an epidemic of youth violence.
Perspective and data in historical analysis
Online scholarship
"I've read the internet, and it's rubbish" - a comedian on a BBC Radio 4 show.