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Dec 20-24, 2021

Greetings Scholars!

We're definitely in holiday time in the US. Nevertheless, there are still Ronin Institute events to look forward to before the year ends.

In just a FEW HOURS, Paola Di Maio presents a Ronin Public Seminar on "Against Method in Contemporary Scientific Thought". We hope that you can attend!

Later this week we have our Ronin College discussion, and the Communication Working Group meeting. All are welcome to attend these meetings as well.

Please do have a look at our latest Ronin blog posts. Matt Bentley writes about his experience attending a game developer's conference. Rami Saydjari describe what it's been like to join the Ronin Institute as a newcomer.

Finally, I include our monthly Message Board, which has the most useful links that you might need at the Ronin Institute.

Have a wonderful holiday week!

Arika

All events are on our Ronin calendar (add the Google Calendar). If you want to add something to this Weekly Update that you think Ronin Scholars would be interested in, please reach out via weekly.update@ronininstitute.org.

Ronin Public Seminar

Against Method in Contemporary Scientific Thought

Speaker: Paola Di Maio
Host: Immanuel Freedman

Date: Dec 20, 2021
Time: 8:00-9:00 AM US Eastern (13:00-14:00 UTC) (local time) Calendar Event
Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/poq-zbcs-jxq?authuser=0
Alternatively, you may join the YouTube livestream.

Summary: Against Method (Lakatos, Feyerabend et al) is identified as an important current in scientific thinking which addresses at least in part some of the concerns surrounding the limitations of what is generally defined as the scientific method.This seminar provides an overview of this movement (its history, main proponents, main ideas) and places in the context of contemporary scientific thinking, by relating it to Open Science and Metascience. The role of Against method is also discussed in relation to Independent Research and Scholarship (building on my previous proposal for a seminar, before the summit). A course, textbook and teaching resources are presented and made available to Ronin Institute.

Please also send Paola any comments about her seminar via this form!

Seminars are all listed on our Ronin calendar (add the Google Calendar) and on our website. You can find videos of previous seminars on Ronin's YouTube. If you'd like to present, sign up on this form. Please direct any questions to #wg-seminars_events on Slack.

Community meetings this week

These meetings are open and welcome for any Research Scholar to attend. Working Groups (WGs) focus on key elements of the Ronin Institute. Interest Groups (IGs) are self-organized groups of Scholars that focus on topics of interest; their goal is to stimulate discussion and enhance collaboration.

TUESDAY
#watercooler chat
Scope: Catch up with your colleagues in an informal Slack chat by the "watercooler".
Date/Time: Every Tuesday at 12:00-1:00 PM US ET / 17:00-18:00 UTC (local time)
Location: #watercooler slack channel. If you can't make the specified time, you can always contribute to the chat conversation at anytime in the Slack channel.

Center for Advancing Mathematics and Physics (CAMP) IG+
Scope: Come join the conversation about Math and Physics, where the group shares information about research, educates each other, and provides advice.
Date/Time: Every Tuesday at 12:30-1:30 PM US ET / 17:30-18:30 UTC (local time) Add to your calendar
Location: www.kumospace.com/ronin_institute

WEDNESDAY
Ronin College Discussion (Slack channel ig-ronin-college)
Scope: Developing the concept and plan forward for the Ronin College.
Date/Time: Dec 22, 2021 at 11:00 AM-12:00 PM ET / 16:00-17:00 UTC (local time)(Add to calendar)
Location: Join the Zoom meeting

Communication WG (Slack channel #wg-communication)
Scope: Streamlines how Ronin disseminates information about the Institute
Date/Time: Dec 22, 2021 at 2:00-3:00 PM US ET / 19:00-20:00 UTC (local time) Add to your calendar
Location: Join the Zoom meeting (pswd: RONIN)

THURSDAY
Office hours with Jon
Scope: Answer any questions you have related to the Ronin Institute.
Date/Time: Every Thursday at 10:30 AM -11:30 AM US ET / 15:30-16:30 UTC (local time) Add to your calendar
Location: https://www.kumospace.com/ronin_institute

If you want to know more about Ronin WGs, email or join us at "Office hours with Jon & Arika"

Ronin Orientation

For new, old, and maybe Scholars

Are you new to the Ronin Institute, and need a little help finding your way around?

Maybe you've been a Ronin Research Scholar for a while now and just need help with some of our tech.

This orientation is for you!

Date: Dec 28, 2021
Time: 1:00-2:00 PM US ET / 18:00-19:00 UTC (local time) (add to your calendar)

Meeting link: www.kumospace.com/ronin_institute

Summary: Prospective, new, and seasoned scholars are welcome to attend to get in intro into how the Ronin Institute works, and how they can get involved. All new scholars are highly encouraged to attend.

Feel free to pass on this announcement to those interested in joining Ronin.

These orientations occur once every two months; each orientation is on a different day of the week and at a different time of day to try to accommodate people's varying schedules. Please direct any questions to John Paulas or #wg-membership on Slack. [Illustration by Yuko Kondo]

Message Board

You can always find these links pinned (little push pin) at the top of the relevant Working Group channel (#wg-) on Slack.

Present: If you'd like to give a Lightning Talk, here is the sign up sheet. [Events WG]

Submit a blog post: Fill out this form to either propose an idea or to submit your completed blog post. All of the posts will be published on the Ronin blog. [Communications WG]

Newsletter: Share your updates and successes for the next newsletter via this form or on the #achievements_announcements slack channel. Send along your news about: scholarly achievements; book publications; stories related to scholarship; funded projects; announcements of events, funding, or projects; and news from other organizations [Communications WG]

Ronin material for scholars: Here are templates of letterhead, business cards (examples), high-def logo (perfect for making facemasks), and slide decks. You are also free to make and use your own templates If you need help designing any of this, reach out to Jon. [Communications WG]

Technical support: If you need technical support related to Ronin, reach out on Slack at #wg-infrastructure or at infrastructure@ronininstitute.org. [Infrastructure WG]

Update your Ronin web presence: Fill out this form to revise/add your Ronin profile, and also update the webpage that lists our Research Scholars. [Membership WG]

Start an Interest Group: Do you have a topic that you are interested in building a community of practice around? You can start an Interest Group on Slack, and here is how to do that. If you already have an #ig- (interest group channel on Slack) that is ready to go to the next level, you can apply to level up to an Interest Group Plus: here's the form for applying. [Governance WG]

Be a part of the community: Join our private Ronin Institute Facebook group ("ask" to join) and Slack (instructions for how).

Get involved: The Ronin Institute is committed to its Do-ocracy approach, so if there is any activity/event that you think the Institute should be doing, you are welcome to speak up and push it forward! We'll be happy to help support you. Reach out to Arika. [Governance WG]