Rationality has something of a bad name these days. Unlearning Economics has an interesting comment on the critique of rationality in economics, and Marc Bellemare has noticed as well. If rationality is problematic for economics, then it is doubly so…
Here is a question for academic families. How does an extended visiting gig work when there’s a family? Some background and context: This is the time of year during which I’m starting to receive notices of interesting and professionally valuable…
For those of you interested in just a bit more on methodology and Southeast Asian studies, I provide you with a video of Don Emmerson’s capstone presentation to the workshop. If you have a spare hour, it’s worth a watch.
Last week I spent two days at a rather amazing workshop here at Cornell on the Republic of Vietnam under the Second Republic. The Second Republic (1967-1975) was the regime under President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu that presided over the difficult…
A small news item of note for Malaysianists: as of today, the last U.S. defendant in United States v. Carson has pled guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The indictment charges that “corrupt payments totaling approximately $1 million [were paid] to…
Overheard the other day: ”The whole IV thing has been a f***ing catastrophe for everyone.” Given my experience with the origins of the identification movement in empirical political science, my internal monologue can’t help but replace “the whole IV thing” with…
Following up on posts here and here on methodology in Southeast Asian studies, let me collect and respond to some of the very interesting reactions that I’ve received here and elsewhere. Sam says it may have been interesting to have…
In my previous post, I wrote about a peculiar asymmetry that I observed between the harder social sciences and the humanistic social sciences at a conference on methodology in Southeast Asia. The political scientists and economists, on the whole, were…
The recent conference on Methodology in Southeast Asian Studies at Uni Freiburg was a lot of fun and a good learning experience. It was also revealing about some basic differences among the disciplines in which Southeast Asianists work. This calls…
Short observations composed in the ultra-modern, ultra-clean, ultra-efficient Zurich airport. I can see the point now of the Reinheitsgebot. Give me the “bio-bier” from the Hausbrauerei Feierling over the Dogfish Head Whateverthehell any day of the week. Intercity train travel:…
