Il più bel fior ne coglie. This is the motto of the Accademia della Crusca, the presiding linguistic authority for the Italian language.  Translated, it means he picks the most beautiful flower.  It is a metaphor for the standardization and cultivation of the national Italian language, although I would say that it can be adjusted to reflect the process more linguistically; instead of picking the most beautiful of the flowers, it was rather the most beautiful sister who was chosen during the search for a basis of standard Italian. The dialects of Italy are not descendents from Standard Italian, or the Florentine dialect, but are sister dialects that originate from different language systems... (Read more!)

In his analysis of cultural capital, Pierre Bourdieu revealed a profound truth about modern societies: power often cloaks itself in taste. Developed in the context of post World War II France, Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital which is defined as non-economic resources such as linguistic fluency, aesthetic sensibilities, and institutionalized educational credentials, remains a cornerstone of contemporary sociology not because it is static, but because it is elastic. As societies evolve, the currency of capital changes form but not function. Today, cultural capital persists as an invisible architecture of inequality, shaping who belongs, who succeeds, and who remains perpetually on the margins... (Read more!) 

Perhaps one of the most intriguing and important aspects of modern geographic disciplines involves the usage of remote sensing. Drones, satellites, and other forms of technology are utilized for the study of our Earth and the people who inhabit it. Quite literally, remote sensing is acquiring information about objects and areas without physical interference. Although we often view remote sensing as being a contemporary subject and being collected via the aforementioned technologies, remote sensing has been around for millennia. The Indigenous Iñupiaq people of Alaska are a whaling community and have been for thousands of years... (Read more!)

I work as a monitor for the Bird Friendly Campus research project. This is an initiative led by Ph.D. student Judy Bowes that aims to protect birds around the University of Washington campus by assessing bird collisions with buildings. The project is closely related to the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project sponsored by Birds Connect Seattle, formerly the Seattle Audubon Society. Birds Connect Seattle is one of several chapters of the National Audubon Society which have vowed to change their name. In March of 2023, however, the National Audubon Society announced its decision to keep its name despite the troubled history of its namesake, John James Audubon... (Read more!)