n @nganthil

Dance in the moonlight or Holi dance? Such an uncanny way of flattening the essence of the meaning and origin it connotes: as a ritual dance and an art form. In general, literal translation sabotages regional literature. And it is so prevalent in Manipur.

Apparently, Thabal Chongba is a crude bastardisation of Ougri Hangen Chongba, a ritual dance in the Meitei cosmological creation. Although decontextualised and secularised in its form, Thabal Chongba, as a traditional/folk dance, is already a fine translation.

Yale built the entire Open Yale Courses project around one stubborn idea: that a real liberal arts education should not be locked behind a quarter-million-dollar tuition bill. The woman who launched it is a Yale art history professor named Diana Kleiner. I only learned her name after going down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why these courses felt so different from everything else online. Here is what she actually built. Not a preview. Not a stripped-down sampler. The genuine Yale courses, recorded in the real Yale College classroom, released in video, audio, and full searchable transcripts, with the original syllabus and reading lists attached. Free, under a license that lets anyone download, share, and remix the material. Her stated mission was simple. Expand access to educational materials for everyone who wants to learn, and protect the values of a liberal arts education that goes beyond memorizing facts toward independent thought. So she put Yale's best introductory courses online and asked nothing in return. No fee, no registration, no certificate dangled to make you pay. You can audit the same courses Yale students pay over $65,000 a year for, right now. The hardest part was never getting in. It was knowing the door was already open. oyc.yale.edu

Geography shapes trade. Trade shapes culture and power. Geography and history of Silk Routes reveal why regions like Leh, Sikkim and the Kashmir valley became crossroads of wealth & influence for centuries. Our online course on Silk Routes chronicles the illuminating history.

A theoretical piece on political space, drawing on Jean-Luc Nancy’s relational ontology. Full article: Spaced out: thinking political space with Jean-Luc Nancy

"What was the point of scholarship in general and anthropology in particular if it could not help us now?" Munira Khayyat, "On Ethnographic Barbarism" Now available on the Critical Times website: ctjournal.org/2026/06/09/on-…

Peer review is never only procedural. In a new City article, Hisham Abusaada & Abeer Elshater ask how urban research journals might move beyond epistemic purity and practise review as epistemic care. DOI: 10.1080/13604813.2026.2633811 #UrbanStudies #PeerReview

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Call for Papers Climate Change, Urban Transformation, and Informal Workers in Indian Cities 📍 Bengaluru | 19–20 Nov 2026 ✈️ Travel & accommodation support available 📝 Abstract deadline: 19 June 2026 More details: tsu.ox.ac.uk/event/call-pap…

📢 The latest edition of Conversations in Development Studies (CIDS) is now live! “Defining Informality: From Structural Explanations to Social Entwinement” Read the full issue here: …onsindevelopmentstudies.wordpress.com/2026/05/21/cid…

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📢 #CallForPapers 📢 ✍️ #UrbanStudies invites contributions that creatively and ambitiously deploy the contemporary and diverse imperatives and impulses of #SouthernUrbanism. 🔗 Info: buff.ly/bbfbB0O

Nitel araştırmalarda tematik doygunluğa (yeni verilerin artık anlamlı yeni tema veya bilgi üretmemeye başlaması) ilişkin güzel bir makale.Önerilen yöntemin 3 bileşeni var: 1. Base size (temel örneklem): Analize başlamak için kullanılan ilk görüşme sayısı → Karşılaştırma zemini++

Looking forward to speaking about Oli Mould's new book today at @theurbansalon event

Herkes kolay yoldan yüksek lisans/doktora tezi nasıl biter onu anlatıyor. Ben size başka bir şey anlatayım. Bu süreçte zorlanmanızın bir sebebi var. Viktor Frankl’a göre acı, eğer bir anlamı varsa acı olmaktan çıkar. O bitmek bilmeyen literatür taramalarında veya işin içinden çıkamadığınız veri analizlerinde çektiğiniz acı, aslında akademik kimliğinizin doğum sancısıdır. Kolayca alınan unvanlar sizi sadece bir 'etiket' sahibi yapar. Acıyla, emekle ve sorumlulukla biten bir çalışma ise sizi 'bilim insanı' yapar. O yüzden acınıza sarılın.

Nitel araştırmalarda “veride doygunluk” tartışılan ve göreceli bir kavram. Bu 👇🏼 makale veride doygunluğun kavramsallaştırılmasına odaklanıp soruyor: neyde doygunluk? Veri mi? Kodlar mı? Tema mı? Örneklem büyüklüğü mü? 4 tür doygunluk var++

What if ethnography were not just written, but drawn? This piece explores illustration as a form of “translation” in anthropology, and capturing what words often miss in lived experience. A fresh take on research, creativity, and meaning-making. culanth.org/fieldsights/sp…

India’s urban transition is not only unfolding in metros or formally recognised towns. A significant part of it is taking shape in settlements that look, work, and grow like urban areas, but are still classified, funded, and governed as rural. This mismatch matters. It affects who governs a place, what infrastructure is planned, which schemes apply, and whether local institutions have the capacity and finance to respond to rapid change. IIHS’ new policy brief, Governing India’s Urban Transition: A Framework for Managing Transitional Settlements, highlights this hidden urbanisation and proposes an implementation roadmap for governments to manage rural-to-urban transitions more efficiently and equitably. Read the brief: iihs.co.in/knowledge-gate…

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no puedo creer que tengo que pensar en una tesis en este estado del mundo

QoC’s first Call for Papers is now open. We’re looking for essays on the built environment in cities and its impact on people and ecology. Read more here: docs.google.com/document/d/1HL…

Field Notes episode 25 out now! This bonus ep is with the One & Only Shobhana Chelliah on her extensive work in Tibeto-Burman languages. lingfieldnotes.podbean.com/e/episode-25-t… 💾 #languagedocumentation #tibetoburmanlanguages #endangeredlanguagedocumentation #langdoc

@CharlotteJD @AcademicChatter I use a combination of zotero and notion, and it works really well. I can sync both apps between my computer and iPad. When it's time to read, I switch to the iPad (less distractions), and seamlessly switch back to the laptop when it's time to write! medium.com/@anna-everett/…