Karin Pallaver, University of Bologna
As part of my work on the Money in Africa project I was in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this year to carry out archival research.
The aim of the project is to study the adoption, use and adaptation of coins and banknotes in Africa. As a historian my role is to study the transition from the pre-colonial to the colonial period.
"I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face." With this, John closed the third New Testament epistle that bears his name. The letter is nearly 1,900 years old, yet the sentiment is entirely recognizable. In fact, many of us have likely expressed similar sentiments; only for us it was more likely an electronic medium that we preferred to forego in favor of face to face communication.
It's been a while since the last of these posts, so there's some older stuff thrown in here. Older, of course, by web standards.
"What Turned Jaron Lanier Against the Web?":
“Social lasers of cruelty?” I repeat.
“I just made that up,” Lanier says. “Where everybody coheres into this cruelty beam....Look what we’re setting up here in the world today.
Just in case you were getting bored by the Christmas holidays, my December Newsletter has just been published.
In it there are links on writing conclusions, academics behaving badly, information contagion, and teaching like a pirate - amongst other things. All the links were sourced via Twitter over the last month.
The Whisperer will return to its normal publishing schedule on the…
