Writing Systems as a Reflection of Ancient Societies

This thesis examines the writing systems of two ancient societies: the Latin alphabet as a writing system within the Roman Empire and the hieroglyphic writing system within the Maya city-state. This thesis first situates writing as a technology and explains the common uses of writing systems in modern contexts, before turning to an examination of the past. Next, basic literary patterns—including estimated literacy rates, education patterns and opportunities, types of documents, and themes within writing—are examined within the context of both societies. After evaluating these literary patterns, as well as the social, political, and economic organization of both societies, this thesis examines the relationship between these writing systems and their respective societies. The literary patterns discussed in the context of these writing systems reflect the previously discussed socio-political-economic hierarchies within the two farming societies. Additionally, these literary patterns are used to examine the reflection of a society’s food surplus—one based on wheat within the Roman Empire and one supported by maize in the Maya city-state—within written documents, as well as the differences formed among these farming societies due to their respective forms of subsistence

An Open, Large-Scale, Collaborative Effort to Estimate the Reproducibility of Psychological Science

Reproducibility is a defining feature of science. However, because of strong incentives for innovation and weak incentives for confirmation, direct replication is rarely practiced or published. The Reproducibility Project is an open, large-scale, collaborative effort to systematically examine the rate and predictors of reproducibility in psychological science. So far, 72 volunteer researchers from 41 institutions have organized to openly and transparently replicate studies published in three prominent psychological journals in 2008. Multiple methods will be used to evaluate the findings, calculate an empirical rate of replication, and investigate factors that predict reproducibility. Whatever the result, a better understanding of reproducibility will ultimately improve confidence in scientific methodology and findings

Stronger Together: A Global Conversation (Panel discussion)

We opened our meeting with the panel discussion Stronger Together: A Global Conversation. While people throughout the world may share common goals and desires in their efforts to protect the natural world, in practice these efforts are surely informed by a range of cultural, political, economic, and other influences. In an open-ended discussion, we brought together a diverse group of panelists with a wide range of international experience in conservation, biodiversity and ecosystem protection to share their perspectives on these ideas

Stronger Together: A Global Conversation (Panel discussion)

We opened our meeting with the panel discussion Stronger Together: A Global Conversation. While people throughout the world may share common goals and desires in their efforts to protect the natural world, in practice these efforts are surely informed by a range of cultural, political, economic, and other influences. In an open-ended discussion, we brought together a diverse group of panelists with a wide range of international experience in conservation, biodiversity and ecosystem protection to share their perspectives on these ideas

An Open, Large-Scale, Collaborative Effort to Estimate the Reproducibility of Psychological Science

Reproducibility is a defining feature of science. However, because of strong incentives for innovation and weak incentives for confirmation, direct replication is rarely practiced or published. The Reproducibility Project is an open, large-scale, collaborative effort to systematically examine the rate and predictors of reproducibility in psychological science. So far, 72 volunteer researchers from 41 institutions have organized to openly and transparently replicate studies published in three prominent psychological journals in 2008. Multiple methods will be used to evaluate the findings, calculate an empirical rate of replication, and investigate factors that predict reproducibility. Whatever the result, a better understanding of reproducibility will ultimately improve confidence in scientific methodology and findings