Just like any other medium, video games can serve pedagogical purposes.
Sid Meier’s Clash of Civilizations
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Nerdblogging
Using Pop Culture in the Classroom: Footloose FTW!
I love this tweet as it puts the usual dynamics on their head: Tip for students going off to college: study 80s/90s pop culture. Particularly Ferris Beuller, Princess Bride, Simpsons seasons 2-5....
Academic (S)mothering Part III: Conferencing
Ah, the sweet time your baby becomes a toddler and maybe lets you sleep for more than 5 hours a night. Your teaching is sort of kind of on track, your scant article submissions get a steady number...
A Case for Nationalism
Sorry, clickbait! But admit, it, after an apology of race science in Quillette or “The Case for Colonialism” in TWQ you probably rage-clicked on the thumbnail to let me have it. Periodic IR Twitter...
More Nerdblogging Posts
The Value Alignment Problem’s Problem
Having recently attended a workshop and conference on beneficial artificial intelligence (AI), one of the overriding concerns is how to design beneficial AI. To do this, the AI needs to be aligned with human values, and as such is known, pace Stuart Russell, as the “Value Alignment Problem.” It is a “problem” in the sense that however one creates an AI, the AI may try to maximize a value to the detriment of other socially useful or even noninstrumental values given the way one has to specify a value function to a machine. As Russell explains: The primary concern is not spooky...
Before you leave for the holiday season: Nominate your friends for The Duckies!
Grades are in, reviews submitted, and I'm headed out for the holiday season. I hope you are wrapping up the semester and/or enjoying a well-deserved break. Please remember to submit your nominations for the 2017 Duckies before the end of the year. And, please remember to attend the The Duckies at ISA: Thursday, February 23rd at 7:30 pm. The ISA Online Media Caucus (OMC) is very thankful to have the support of Sage in hosting the reception. Send your nominations to onlinemediacaucus@gmail.com. Duckies will be awarded in the following categories: Best Blog (Group) in International Studies...
Kiss 2016 Goodbye: Call for Nominations for the Duckies
Thankfully, The Disaster that was 2016 will soon be behind us. I’m sure hoping 2017 will be better! With all the uncertainty of 2017, I am assured of one thing: ISA 2017 is right around the corner and will be AMAZING. My favorite part of ISA for the last several years is the Online Achievement in International Studies Reception and Awarding of the Duckies! This year, the event will be held on Thursday, February 23rd at 7:30 pm. I’m excited about our Ignite speaker lineup – more information will be released on this soon. The ISA Online Media Caucus (OMC) is very thankful to have the...
Trump and the Fall of Númenor—a comment from a sad political scientist
This is a guest post by Eric Grynaviski, an Associate Professor of Political Science at International Affairs at George Washington University. He is the author of Constructive Illusions (Cornell, 2014) .He studies sociological approaches to cooperation and conflict, and international ethics. Over the last few days, protestors have taken to the streets to combat what they believe is an evil power that will soon occupy the White House. The problem of evil has featured in rhetoric about this election, in fact, for months, as featured in the Washington Post commentary on the election. The tropes...
Analogies in War: Marine Mammal Systems and Autonomous Weapons
Last week I was able to host and facilitate a multi-stakeholder meeting of governments, industry and academia to discuss the notions of “meaningful human control” and “appropriate human judgment” as they pertain to the development, deployment and use of autonomous weapons systems (AWS). These two concepts presently dominate discussion over whether to regulate or ban AWS, but neither concept is fully endorsed internationally, despite work from governments, academia and NGOs. On one side many prefer the notion of “control,” and on the other “judgment.” Yet what has become apparent from many...
Empathy, Envy and Justice: The Real Trouble for Algorithm Bias
Rousseau once remarked that “It is, therefore, very certain that compassion is a natural sentiment, which, by moderating the activity of self-esteem in each individual, contributes to the mutual preservation of the whole species” (Discourses on Inequality). Indeed, it is compassion, and not “reason” that keeps this frail species progressing. Yet, this ability to be compassionate, which is by its very nature an other-regarding ability, is (ironically) the different side to the same coin: comparison. Comparison, or perhaps "reflection on certain relations" (e.g. small/big; hard/soft;...
Friday Nerd Blogging: Attack of the Ads
For this week's FNB, something that is well timed:
Friday Nerd Blogging: Superhero Oversight
Every time I think I am out, they pull me back in. No, not leading the mafia. Principal-agent theory. Yep, and I blame Stan Lee. How so? I saw the new Captain America: Civil Wars movie... explanation below the break: The entire movie is essentially about who guards the guardians (a title used more than once for civ-mil relations books)--who is the principal that oversees the agents? This is the classic question in civil-military relations--who oversees the folks with the guns? We take it for granted in democracies in part because it is an essential ingredient. But scholars have not. ...