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In the 1970s, when anthropologist David Turton embarked on fieldwork among the Mursi, he did not speculate about what the consequence of formal education would be. This is because at that time there was no formal schooling or alternative basic education (Abe) in Mursiland. In fact, it only within the last decade that the Mursi have come to see themselves as living on the periphery of the Ethiopian State, rather than at its center (Turton 2005). Now, nearly 40 years later, formal (and informal...

In November 2012, the 18th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies was convened in Dire Dawa, a cosmopolitan city in the eastern lowlands of Ethiopia. This event gathered more than 300 international scholars from all disciplines of the humanities and social social sciences. Under the general theme of ‘movement’ these two volumes gather a collection of 70 papers that reflect recent trends in the field of Ethiopian studies. From local studies to regional and international perspectives, these studies question long term historical processes and current social and economic transformations. A number of contributions explore and give access to fresh sources of knowledge from unpublished or rediscovered texts and documents, from recordings of oral information, or from ethnographic observation. They also review literature, challenge conventional ideas and propose critical investigations on past and present issues, such as interethnic relations, women’s role, development policies and their impact.

The performance of various computational model chemistries in predicting structural, thermodynamic and optical properties of water-covered carbon and nitrogen containing porous materials is investigated.

In this chapter the authors set out some of the stakes of platform politics at the current conjuncture. Data governance issues concerning the social production of value, data rights in automated markets, data surveillance motivated by pervasive paranoia and a general ideological intolerance against off-message articulations of disaffection. These are just some of the prevailing discursive and governmental tendencies that define the horizon of our platform present. Yet there is more, and the authors write their way through crisis to find some bearing and orientation in a world of real-time updates and automated injunctions. The machinic signalling of pervasive despair is wrought by contagion, climate and a future at once forestalled and bearing down upon us.

Issue: Calls to change medical education have been frequent, persistent, and generally limited to alterations in content or structural re-organization. Self-imposed barriers have prevented adoption of more radical pedagogical approaches, so recent predictions of the 'inevitability' of medical education transitioning to online delivery seemed unlikely. Then in March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced medical schools to overcome established barriers overnight and make the most rapid curricular shift in medical education's history. We share the collated reports of nine medical schools and postulate how recent responses may influence future medical education. Evidence: While extraneous pandemic-related factors make it impossible to scientifically distinguish the impact of the curricular changes, some themes emerged. The rapid transition to online delivery was made possible by all schools having learning management systems and key electronic resources already blended into their curricula; we were closer to online delivery than anticipated. Student engagement with online delivery varied with different pedagogies used and the importance of social learning and interaction along with autonomy in learning were apparent. These are factors known to enhance online learning, and the student-centered modalities (e.g. problem-based learning) that included them appeared to be more engaging. Assumptions that the new online environment would be easily adopted and embraced by 'technophilic' students did not always hold true. Achieving true distance medical education will take longer than this 'overnight' response, but adhering to best practices for online education may open a new realm of possibilities. Implications: While this experience did not confirm that online medical education is really 'inevitable,' it revealed that it is possible. Thoughtfully blending more online components into a medical curriculum will allow us to take advantage of this environment's strengths such as efficiency and the ability to support asynchronous and autonomous learning that engage and foster intrinsic learning in our students. While maintaining aspects of social interaction, online learning could enhance pre-clinical medical education by allowing integration and collaboration among classes of medical students, other health professionals, and even between medical schools. What remains to be seen is whether COVID-19 provided the experience, vision and courage for medical education to change, or whether the old barriers will rise again when the pandemic is over.

Die Krisen der Gegenwart lassen uns erschöpft und ratlos zurück. Wie kann es sein, dass wir als Einzelne die Notwendigkeit für große Veränderungen sehen, uns als Gesellschaft aber eben dieser Wandel viel schwerer zu fallen scheint als erwartet? Krise kostet Kraft und damit immer auch Zukunft. Gerade deshalb sollten wir nach Wegen suchen, gemeinsam wieder größere Handlungs- und Wirkungsräume zu erschließen - über das Lokale, Regionale, Nationale hinaus.