Strange Communities

Strange Communities

This is a class weblog on Strange Communities

Episodes

Are We Strange?

December 11, 2008
In this final podcast of the Strange Communities class John Zagurski, Robbie Toombs, and Katie Matthew talk about what characteristics the three communities we studied (composed of gang members, monks, and wikifolk) had in common with one another. Is it fair to say that “extreme” communities are the most “strange”? Is there any way of being objective about our lives when we live in close proximity to the communities that define us?
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Strange Projects

December 8, 2008
In this podcast Marybeth Allinson, Geoffrey Wright, and Carlos Merino recap the strange communities class projects unveiled this week. The groups adopted creative, historical, or ethnographic projects examining ...
  • Spiritual Space: Inspired by Into Great Silence, document spacetime settings here at UCA or in Conway with the potential for nurturing contemplation and religious experience. Investigate both settings specificall...
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Wikis, Worlds, and Trust

December 5, 2008
In this episode Patricia O'Neal, Caitlin Porter, and Sarah Fodge talk about the history of information storage and retrieval, discuss two examples of wiki communities (Wikipedia: Arkansas Project; Little Rock Renaissance), and make connections between wikis and virtual worlds. They finish up by debating the merits of wikis, and whether to trust them, and whether virtual worlds are really "real" worlds!
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World of Warcraft Communities and Virtual Religion

November 20, 2008
In this episode Austin Keaster, Mark Senia, and Michael J. Hinds interview a monk from the Order of the Lamp. Brother (Tele)Porter talks about the connections that can be made between his duties at the monastery and his responsibilities to his World of Warcraft guild.
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Second Life and Facebook as RPGs

November 13, 2008
In this episode of the Strange Communities podcast Saroj Adhikari, Desiree Paulhamus, and Genevieve Kimbrough talk about the various motives of Second Life and Facebook users.  Do both groups have the characteristics of role-playing gamers? Do these online applications have educational purposes?
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Wikinomics

October 28, 2008
Mitchell Adams, Matthew Hill, and Caroline Borden discuss wiki community, distributed collaboration, and folksonomy. Why would people want to share? Do social media contributors do it because it is fun? Should information want to be free? Can open source wikis replace textbooks?
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Testing the Righteous and the Wicked

October 21, 2008
In this episode Tim Peterson, Brandon King, and David Wilkins discuss the relative merits of strict churches, and the reasons why they are gaining popularity in both America and Japan. What should we fear more: The potential of strict churches to incite religious violence? Or the damning of souls?
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Modern Monasticism?

October 9, 2008
In this fifth episode of the Strange Communities podcast Hayley Sebourn, Katelyn Johnson, and Brannen Payne discuss the life of sixteenth-century mystic Saint Teresa of Avila. Saint Teresa established a reformed branch of the order known as the Carmelites. In light of Teresa's mission, what is it to lead a good and religious life? How do we reconcile her emotive and introspective mystical faith? If she were alive today where would ...
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Monasticism: A Separate Holiness or Selfish Ambition?

October 2, 2008
This week Natalie Bergstrom, Tyler Floyd, and Stephanie Sun talk about the rise of monasticism in the ancient world and the importance of ascetic practice to individuals and in the wider community. Does our salvation come from grace or good works? Is the monastic search about becoming closer to God or becoming holier than thou?
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Can you dig it?

September 25, 2008
Bekah Baugh, Rebecca Harvey, and F. John Rickert talk about the counterculture Digger community in the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco. The Diggers developed a powerful critique of society by such devices as the Free Store idea, guerrilla theater, and lots of psychedelic drugs. The paradox -- they find -- is that socialization is necessary, but it can also be a brainwashing activity.
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Gang Leader for a Day

September 18, 2008
Cody Wilson and Lauren Knetzer discuss Sudhir Venkatesh's Gang Leader for a Day. Is Venkatesh propagating a falsely romantic view of gang life? Are gang members potential dons in a vast hierarchy of power? Or are they mostly just disorganized punks and small-time businessmen?
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Strange Communities course introduction

September 2, 2008
We tend to think of community as the fuzzy, friendly altruism of neighbors – or perhaps as the dead weight of traditions and folkways. But all around us people engage in weird roleplay that determines our social universals. Much of it passes as normal conduct. Gangs may be outside the law, but they’re far from anarchic; to their members, they function as support group, school, and justice system all in one. When a group of men (or ...
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