The NZ Game Developer’s Conference 2021 – a write-up

By Ronin Research Scholar Matthew Bentley Musicians and programmers are fickle breeds, and more commonly separate – but there is a third category, the musician-programmer, of which I count myself a member. Programming has been in my life since I was 8, and music since I was 4. I am equally well-versed in both, having …

Citizen Science Tabor Tree Project: Upcoming Field Training

By Ronin Institute Research Scholar Candace Gossen Beginning in the Fall of 2020, we began the Citizen Science Project called the “Tabor Tree Project” in Portland, Oregon. An old growth forest nestled upon a dormant volcano in the SE of the city, this group of Citizen Scientists identified a diversity of species and ages of …

Common Wealth Dividends: a new book about the wealth each of us is owed

By Ronin Institute Research Scholar Brent Ranalli   “How will we pay for it?” is one of the questions most commonly asked about basic income. My new book, Common Wealth Dividends: History and Theory (Palgrave Macmillan), examines a type or variant of basic income that has a source of funding built right in. Common wealth …

Success? What is that?

Notes from the Big Brain Collective as summarized by Research Scholar Emily Monosson The last Big Brain gathered around the idea of success. What does success mean and what are some challenges for reaching success? Ask a bunch of Ronin Scholars and you’ll get a bunch of different ideas; that’s part of what Ronin is about. …

Helpful thoughts_Big Brain Ronin

The Big Brain Begins to Think

By Research Scholars Emily Monosson, Arika Virapongse  and Judy Daniels  At the Ronin Institute, we’ve been working on a Big Brain project that intends to collect and share experiences and insights by scholars operating outside of traditional academic institutions. Our Big Brain project got off to a great start in early March 2021 with two …

Life happens while you are working on your lifework! Notes from a Field Scientist

By Ronin Research Scholar Candace Gossen, on her Ronin Public Seminar on Feb 12, 2021: I am very grateful to the Ronin Institute for offering the opportunity to talk about my life work on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). My PhD field work and research began on the island in 2002 as I was looking for …

“Free” isn’t free: A Ronin Research Scholar examines the web and its problems

By Ronin Research Scholar Ralph Haygood  Remember when the World Wide Web was new and shiny (albeit somewhat rickety)? It wasn’t very long ago. Like me, many Ronin Research Scholars no doubt can recall the widespread excitement about the new medium. I was in graduate school when the web took off and became part of …