Author Archives: Timothy Burke

Passages to Meritocracy

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Timothy Burke

If nothing else, Sunday’s New York Times story on pricey consultancies helping well-heeled students get into the selective university or college of their choice was memorable for the juxtaposition of a quote from Amy Gutmann, president of the University of … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Swarthmore | 8 Comments

Other People’s Money

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Some interesting fallout from the light sentence given to Pennsylvania state senator Vincent Fumo for his conviction on corruption charges, a sentence that the judge in the case justified as recognition of Fumo’s many good deeds. (The 55-month sentence is … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Comments Off on Other People’s Money

Obama in Ghana

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I joined in a conversation in Second Life about Obama’s speech in Ghana over the weekend. Due to some technical snafus, I had trouble participating in the panel early on, so one of the basic reactions I had to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | Comments Off on Obama in Ghana

The Weedy Garden of Familyhood

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Before the blog went haywire last week, I meant to comment on Michael Chabon’s essay “The Wilderness of Childhood” in the New York Review of Books. The basic thrust of Chabon’s commentary is spot-on. It’s certainly one of the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic Life | 1 Comment

Blog Troubles

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I think we have everything fixed now here. Let me know if comments are still broken or links to entries here aren’t working.

Posted in Blogging, Swarthmore | Comments Off on Blog Troubles

The Implausibility of Liberal Revolution

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I’ve been struck in the past week at some of the similarities between Iran and Zimbabwe. Yes, there are vast differences in geopolitical status, economic health, histories of 20th Century statehood, religious and social ideology and much else besides. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | 2 Comments

Gaming Roundup

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Timothy Burke

So I’m catching up after a week of household projects and hiking with family. First, some miscellaneous thoughts about digital games and virtual worlds after State of Play. 1. The theme for State of Play was “Plateau” and unlike most … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming, Popular Culture | Comments Off on Gaming Roundup

The Tournament of Lunches Begins!

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Timothy Burke

We have some summer family projects: learning to ride a bike and such. One of the projects is to find some good lunches to take to school next year. So I designed a bracket-based Tournament of Lunches for this summer–I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic Life, Food | 1 Comment

Liveblogging State of Play, Day 2, Lunch Session

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Talking about new media reporting and games. Julian Dibbell: the hook of these stories is maybe completely done in the terms that we’ve seen so far (e.g., “this is the future! there are people with stores in Second Life!!!!” but … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Intellectual Property | Comments Off on Liveblogging State of Play, Day 2, Lunch Session

Liveblogging at State of Play, Day 2, Session 2

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Session on kid and tween worlds. Joost van Dreunen. Stepping away idea of designer as author, moving towards the idea of supplying tools to players or participants. Video games as meaning-making experiences. Interested in how kid worlds/tween worlds actually make … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Intellectual Property | Comments Off on Liveblogging at State of Play, Day 2, Session 2