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Participatory design research, documenting the experience of Gainesville local drag performers

Stumbled across this as I was looking for stuff on autotheory and pluriversal design.

Abstract: This case study documents the process of research, identification, and cocreation —with members of the drag community— a visual ethnography of Gainesville's drag culture. This study documented drag performance as an integral element of public-facing queer communities and took place during 2021 and 2022. Drag GNV aim is to contextualize the importance and nuance of drag as an activity supporting LGBTQ+ individuals and communities and as a publicly visible format for sharing elements of LGBTQ+ community identity with broader audiences. This research focused on conversations with the queer community (performers and allies) and centered reflections on drag venues as safe spaces, to build on the oral and visual history and promote the drag art form. The project weaves together past and present stories and contributes to the collective creation of safe spaces for queer people.

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Do you speak Delvish?

Well, no. Because you can't.

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Engineered Living Fabrication: Combining Hardware, Wetware and Software for the Non-entropic Guided Growth of Microbial Cellulose

I'm a sucker for anything about synthetic biology or sef-growing houses.

ABSTRACT This research presents the development and application of an Engineered Living Fabrication (ELF) system, a novel approach for fabricating materials using biological self-assembly and robotic hardware. The ELF system incorporates microbial cellulose, grown via custom fermentation vessels, into a bio-manufacturing process enhanced by synthetic biology techniques. This results in cellulose materials with modified properties. The ELF system also includes an automated input system for optogenetic or chemical stimuli and a feedback system for real-time growth monitoring. Simulations, developed in the Processing programming environment, enable the visualization and testing of various fabrication scenarios. Although the system has limitations, such as sterility requirements and robustness of engineered organisms, it exhibits potential for creating a new generation of biologically fabricated materials with unique properties. This innovative fabrication method represents a crucial step towards more sustainable and energyefficient manufacturing strategies.

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Walking in the city

Wonderful essay by Izabela Ilowska about walking through her haunted neighborhood of Muranów.

ABSTRACT My short story contributes to discussions about the relationship between memory and place. It is set in Muranów, erected on the ashes of the former ghetto, a space of absence and repressed guilt. Even though the quarter was razed to the ground, it is still part of the city’s landscape and remains a haunting presence. It exists in fragments: memories, images, and ghost stories. The short story focuses on the connection between memory, trauma, and storytelling. The space of Muranów, a palimpsest of the past, becomes a trigger for re-examination of what has been forgotten and silenced. Moreover, it explores how a foreign language can serve as a tool through which painful and repressed stories can be (re)told.

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Being Human in the Age of Generative AI: Young People’s Ethical Concerns about Writing and Living with Machines

Ugh. I find all this AI talk heart-stoppingly boring but I suppose for job-related purposes I need to know more. This seems like a reasonable place to start.

ABSTRACT The recent unveiling of chatbots such as ChatGPT has catalyzed vigorous debates about generative AI’s impact on how learners read, write, and communicate. Largely missing from these debates is careful consideration of how young people are experiencing AI in their everyday lives and how they are making sense of the questions that these rapidly evolving cultural tools raise about ethics, power, and social participation. Engaging cultural historical perspectives on technology, the present study drew on student survey and focus group data from English language arts classes in two culturally and linguistically diverse high schools to answer the following questions:

(1) How are young people using AI in their everyday lives, if at all?;

(2) What do young people identify as key considerations related to AI-mediated writing?; and

(3) What ethical and critical considerations, if any, inform young people’s sensemaking of and practices with AI?

Young people reported using generative AI for diverse purposes in and out of school, including to accomplish routine organizational and information tasks, to entertain themselves through experimenting with AI technologies, and to catalyze their thinking and writing processes. Survey and focus group participants’ responses suggested their regular navigation of ethical and critical dimensions of AI use and their contemplation of what it means to be human through and with advancing technologies. Young people also reported a lack of opportunity to examine AI practices and perspectives in school, suggesting the important role schools can play in supporting youths’ development of AI ethics.

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Three Stories from the Chthulucene

Some cool scholarship from Alex Prong. I love the genre of research-creation/creation-as-research AND I love tentacular thinking.

“Three Stories from the Chthulucene” attempts to work through some of the theoretical framework outlined in Donna Haraway’s Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene.1 The term “Chthulucene” derives from H. P. Lovecraft’s science-fictional tentacled being, the Cthulhu. Haraway theorizes the Chthulucene as an alternative to dominant notions of our time as the Anthropocene. Rather than seeing humans as separate from the environment and acting on it, Chthulucene theorists see humans as part of an intricate web of relations between human and more-than-human life, where humans act through the environment. The methodology used in this article is research-creation, specifically creation as research. This article begins with three autofictional vignettes that aim to play with research questions such as: How might Haraway’s concept of “tentacular thinking" impact the way narrative is structured? Is there an accessible way to write Haraway’s theories so that they are approachable but still “writerly"? How can writer and reader together (re)imagine utopias, in particular queer utopias, so that they are still situated strongly in the present? A supplementary essay follows these three vignettes and attempts to tease out some of these findings within a more typically academic format.

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Affirmations of Black Being: Explicating the Potentialities of Self-Love in Higher Education

I love anytime I see articles about self-love appearing in scholarly venues. Worth reading no matter your discipline. And a great bibliography to get started on learning more.

ABSTRACT Research has chronicled the experiences of Black students transitioning into college and best practices for supporting Black students as they move through the collegiate context. The collegiate context is nested in white supremacy, and a microcosm of white culture. Thus, this study is rooted in the assumption that racism experienced within college is a reflection of its permanence, and sets the stage for the importance of examining Black students’ sense of self-love. In this paper, we utilize critical frameworks to examine how seven Black students conceptualize self-love within anti-Black environments. An analysis of testimonies and interviews generated by participants produced several considerations on the praxis of self-love in and beyond the educational context. Specifically, findings point to the ways Black students conceptualize selflove as affirmations of the Black being, manifesting as presence, knowing, feeling, seeing, doing, and regard.

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Anatomy of tragedy: the skeptical gothic in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Wait, what? David Hume writes about monsters?

Abstract Combining philosophical and literary perspectives, this paper argues that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is informed by a skeptical problematic that may be traced back to the work of the young David Hume. As the foundational text on romantic monstrosity, Frankenstein has been studied from various critical angles, including that of Humean skepticism by Sarah Tindal Kareem (Eighteenth-century fiction and the reinvention of wonder. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014) and Monique Morgan (Romant Net 44, doi:10.7202/013998ar, 2006). However, the striking connections with Hume’s Treatise have not been fully explored. The paper begins by comparing the three narrators of Frankenstein with three figures appearing in Hume’s Conclusion to Book I: the anatomist, the explorer, and the monster. It proceeds by looking at the hybrid “anatomies” offered by Hume and Shelley, suggesting that Frankenstein might be regarded as a tragic re-enactment and radicalization of Hume’s skeptical impasse. Whereas Hume alerted his readers to the dangers of a thoroughgoing skepticism only to steer his argument in a new direction, Shelley shows those dangers realized in the “catastrophe” of the Monster’s birth. While Hume had called attention to the impossibility of conducting strictly scientific experiments on “moral subjects”, Shelley devises a counterfactual plot and a multi-layered narrative structure in order to explore that very impossibility. Interpreting Frankenstein as an instance of the “skeptical gothic”, I suggest that both the monster and the scientist (Victor) share some traits with Hume’s radically skeptical philosopher, including a tendency to give up responsibility for what Stanley Cavell (The Claim of Reason: Wittgenstein, skepticism, morality, and tragedy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1979) called “the maintenance of shared forms of life”. Relying on the work of Cavell, this paper argues that skepticism in Frankenstein is manifested as tragedy, traceable in Shelley’s reliance on tragic tropes throughout the novel.

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A gothic Taoism and its dual facets: possible worlds in The Haunted Monastery

Ah, new (to me) fiction! I have never heard of Judge Dee.

Abstract Recent scholarship has argued for a Western basis for the Judge Dee Mysteries, a detective fiction series by Sinologist Robert van Gulik (1916–1967) set in Tang China. But these studies primarily focus on how Chinese elements are recreated to cater to Anglophone readers’ tastes, neglecting to discuss their actual Western origins in any detail. This paper will make the attempt by focusing on one of the novels, The Haunted Monastery, to investigate how Gothic Taoism is projected through the internal organization of the semantic universe (characters, settings, and conflicts) in the multiple worlds of this detective fiction. It observes how van Gulik recreates anti-religious conventions in the traditional Western Gothic novel and in Chinese courtroom fiction. This artistic innovation highlights the dual facets of Taoism in the story, as it navigates between the realms of crime and faith. On the one hand, it faces the purely divine world, while on the other, it faces the secular world dominated by limitless desire.

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Two Gothic Birth Scenes

In his biography of William Godwin, William St. Clair suggests the following passage from St. Leon is Godwin writing about the birth of Mary Shelley. So much to unpack! “At length the critical period arrives, when an event so extraordinary occurs, as cannot fail to put the human frame in considerable jeopardy. Never shall I forget the interview between us immediately subsequent to her first…

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Mourning, melancholia and machines: An applied psychoanalytic investigation of mourning in the age of griefbots

For this article it was the word "griefbot" that caught my attention. Initially I imagined a griefbots to be an AI-related counseling services, to help people cope with grief. But apparently is's a variation on the Ruckerian "lifebox." I also think sometimes about the growing number of ghosts in my online life. Do you delete dead friends from your phone or social media? I don't. As I get older, more and more of these ghosts inhabit by online world.

ABSTRACT

Death and mourning are being shaped by posthumous opportunities for the dead to affect current life in ways not possible in pre-digital generations. The psychological and sociological impact of the dead “online” and of “grief tech” is only beginning to be understood. It has not yet been explored psychoanalytically until this paper that examines one type of grief tech, namely the griefbot. This development is critically explored through a psychoanalytic reading of an episode of Black Mirror. I suggest that a psychoanalytic model of mourning provides an invaluable perspective to help us to think about this technology’s potential as well as the psychological and ethical risks it poses. I argue that the immortalization of the dead through digital permanence works against facing the painful reality of loss and the recognition of otherness, which is fundamental to psychic growth and to the integrity of our relationships with others. Drawing on Derrida’s conceptualization of “originary mourning”, I suggest that mourning is an interminable process that challenges us to preserve within the self the otherness of the lost object. The tools we use for mourning need to be assessed first and foremost against this psychological and fundamentally ethical process.

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Neuro-adaptive architecture: Buildings and city design that respond to human emotions, cognitive states

I love the concept of neuro-adaptive architecture as a neat sfnal gimmick. I suspect the reality would be some creepy surveillance state.

Abstract

Neuro-adaptive architecture has emerged as an interdisciplinary field aiming to cultivate buildings and urban environments responsive to human emotions, cognition, and well-being. Technological advances now enable unprecedented monitoring of occupants' psychological states through unobtrusive sensors, as well as adaptive modulation of environments via “smart” architectural components. If developed responsibly, these advancements hold great potential to optimize human experience and flourishing within the built milieu. However, they also present complex ethical challenges regarding privacy, consent, data security, globalization and equitable access that require thoughtful consideration. This paper provides a comprehensive review and synthesis of the opportunities and dilemmas at the nexus of neuroscience, architecture, and urban planning. Drawing from research worldwide, it examines the multidimensional issues involved and strategies for addressing them through participatory and empathic design practices. Case studies of experimental neuro-adaptive projects are discussed and recommendations provided for longitudinal evaluation of impacts on health, social outcomes, and well-being. Concepts such as cognitive ergonomics, sensory perception and emotional design, restorative urbanism, and adaptive living interfaces are explored through diverse methodologies and design hypotheses are provided for future interdisciplinary collaboration. Overall, this paper argues that responsibly optimized neuro-adaptive architecture could enhance human thriving in complex urban environments, but precautions are necessary to avoid risks to autonomy, equity or unintended consequences. Continued rigorous interdisciplinary work is imperative to navigate these opportunities and challenges, with consideration of technical, social and ethical implications at individual and societal levels.

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Don’t waste the crisis: The COVID-19 Anthropause as an experiment for rethinking human–environment relations

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic sparked radical changes in the way life was lived around the globe. With the rapid reduction in human mobility, short-term environmental improvements were seen across the world. Work and social routines were altered, and political action to reduce case numbers seemed to open a window of opportunity for socio-environmental change in a post-pandemic world. Inspired by conversations around the “COVID-19 Anthropause,” this paper probes the lived experiences and reflections that emerged in the pandemic pause. Three years after the onset of the pandemic, many initial environmental gains have been limited. Nonetheless, the COVID-19 Anthropause has brought human–environment relations into new light, sparking introspection and forms of broader social critique surrounding what kinds of socio-political courage and structural change is necessary to achieve new post-pandemic realities. Our research shows the heterogeneity of experiences of the Anthropause, highlighting the ways that uncritical engagement with the concept can obscure overlapping structural inequalities, and reinforce harmful binaries around the presence and absence of humans in nature. Drawing on longitudinal, qualitative data from Latin America and Europe, we enrich debates over the implications of the pandemic for human–environment relations and underscore the need to attend to radical forms of difference amid any global environmental concept.

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Ecological grief as a crisis in dwelling

Abstract In the current context of widespread environmental collapse, ecological grief—the sense of loss that arises from experiencing environmental destruction—has become a burgeoning topic of inquiry across psychology, geography, and anthropology. The central challenge in the study of ecological grief is that its theoretical foundations remain underdeveloped. Recent discussions in philosophy of emotions elucidate that a central element in this theoretical challenge is determining what the object of ecological grief is. In turn, our understanding of the object of ecological grief goes hand in hand with our understanding of the nature of ecological grief. This paper develops a phenomenological analysis of cross-cultural subjective reports that identifies crucial themes in the experience of ecological grief. This phenomenological analysis reveals the object of ecological grief as the loss of the life possibilities that are sustained by dwelling. The resulting view is that ecological grief corresponds to a crisis in dwelling—a disturbance in the very way we inhabit our home environment.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ejop.12962

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The Elegy

I assumed an elegy was a lament for the dead; a sermon or poem to recognize the unique loss and the tragedy of permanent absence. I was wrong! (Well, and also right.) Early definitions of elegy described a certain form. Rhyming couplets in a certain rhythmic pattern. Elegies from the classical era might be about death but could also be erotic or tell a tale of myth. Only when the English started…

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Landscapes of Fear: Spatial Patterns of Risk Perception and Response

Animals experience varying levels of predation risk as they navigate heterogeneous landscapes, and behavioral responses to perceived risk can structure ecosystems. The concept of the landscape of fear has recently become central to describing this spatial variation in risk, perception, and response. We present a framework linking the landscape of fear, defined as spatial variation in prey perception of risk, to the underlying physical landscape and predation risk, and to resulting patterns of prey distribution and antipredator behavior. By disambiguating the mechanisms through which prey perceive risk and incorporate fear into decision making, we can better quantify the nonlinear relationship between risk and response and evaluate the relative importance of the landscape of fear across taxa and ecosystems.

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Democritus, Jr.

In an earlier post I mentioned the motif of Democritus as the laughing philosopher and Heraclitus as the weeping philosopher. Reading about the melancholy English poetry of the 18th century I was reminded of Robert Burton’s use of Democritus in Anatomy of Melancholy (published in 1621). Burton, a Democritus fan, wrote his work under the pseudonym Democritus, Jr. However, he sees Democritus as…