This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 

Saturday October 17

 

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

Towards an Anthropology of Agentic AI Sandboxes: Emerging Agency in Experimental Governance.

https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/ai-sandboxes/

 

Christine Louise, MRes

 

Auditorium 

 

    ~*~

 

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝  

 

 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 

Saturday May 10

 

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

    Department of Anthropology and Geography at Colorado State University

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/csu/

    By Meryl McBride/Meryl Johnson

    Location: Auditorium

 

    ~*~

 

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

Saturday December 23

    ~*~

    

    At 10 AM PST   

    Colorado State University Department of Anthropology and Geography

    Organizer: Merrill Johnson

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/colorado-state-university/

 

    The Science Circle (139, 112, 23)

      

    ~*~

 

    At 9 PM PST   

    A Well Deserved Holiday (no event)

    No organizer

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/well-deserved-holiday/

 

 

    ~*~

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

SL Video: "Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times - Official Trailer"

 *

From Draxtor Despres on March 26. "Since March 2020, Draxtor has been following UC Irvine Department of Anthropology researchers Tom Boellstorff, Evan Conaway, Chandra Middleton and Sandy Wenger around Animal Crossing and Second Life to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping online interaction. 

In the film, protagonists from all over the world open up about their anxieties and everyday challenges during the last two years, and share what virtual worlds and social games mean to them in the context of a global health crisis. 

Many hours of mixed reality interviews, group discussions in Second Life and a comprehensive survey filled out by over 4000 players/residents provide the basis for a sprawling narrative. What emerges through participant observation is a mosaic of impressions, voices and worlds belonging to people from all walks of life, who are actively engaging in community building in the digital realm as they are trying to make sense of a new age dominated by uncertainty and physical isolation. 

The film premieres April 2nd right here on YouTube and in Second Life at Film Threat. More information = https://www.draxtor.com/virtualcultures 

(This film has been made possible with support of the National Science Foundation, award number 2028560, “RAPID: The Role of Emerging Virtual Cultures in the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission”)"
 

LA Times Reports on Anthropologist Researching Second Life Use By Disabled

Many residents of Second Life have mixed opinions of mainstream media coverage of Second Life, feeling it focuses on the more salacious aspects of the Grid, notably sex. But LA Times reporter Ben Brazil recently wrote about anthropologist Tom Boellstroff's work in studying Second Life, which after the first few years began to focus on it's disabled users, which he reasons make up forty to sixty percent of it's population.

Boellstroff and his co-researcher Donna Davis talked to about 200 disabled residents. Davis told the Times, “We so often hear about the dark side of technology. But I think that Tom and I have found that there is a bright side. People can connect in these virtual spaces in really important and meaningful ways.”

The National Science Foundation has funded his study, contributing $277,000 US dollars. Boellstroff "is writing a second book" about his research on the disabled and hopes that his efforts "will cause technology developers to pay heed to the issues of disabled people when creating virtual reality products."

Read more on the LA Times article (Here) 

Source: New World Notes

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "The Drax Files: World Makers (Episode 31 - Tom Boellstorff)"

(Click here if the video fails to load)

The latest Drax Files from Draxtor Despress, Aug 12, 2015, "New Drax Files on the question what is REAL. Comment and share with a skeptic if you like. ... Anthropologist Tom Boellstorff sees no difference between doing ethnographic research in Indonesia or among the residents of a digital universe like Second Life."