Month: December 2013

Historical Cartography

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Uri Friedman at the Atlantic has a nice piece entitled "12 Maps that Changed the World." It's based on a book by Jerry Brotton, professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University. It's worth checking out if you haven't seen it already. This article is interesting for a few reasons. First, it gives you some sense as to how views of the earth have changed over time. Second, Friedman's snippets for each map help to show how politics, culture, and religion all influenced the evolution of these views. And related to that previous idea, it points to that ever-present issue Continue reading Historical Cartography→

New Year’s Resolutions for Academics

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

In six days, 2014 commences and people across the globe will make resolutions to change their habits in areas concerning health, wealth, family, and work.  I do not make such resolutions, but that minor detail will not stop me from providing some boilerplate resolutions for academics.  Here are a few ideas to kick off the resolution-making New Year.*   Research/Writing – I will collect one data point per day. – I will create one data point per day (perhaps per month if your data involves war onsets). – I will make sure my "thank you" section includes more genuine choices Continue reading New Year’s Resolutions for Academics→

The Dark Knight Rises and the Economic Impact of Bane’s Occupation of Gotham

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I started working on this post a long time ago and, for whatever reason, never got around to finishing it. So please keep in mind that this was largely written shortly after the film first came out. I should also disclose at the outset that this post will contain spoilers, so if there is some sort of unbelievably powerful force that has kept you from seeing this fantastic movie, please be warned. For those still interested, there’s more after the jump.