OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# SPIR608 Political Simulation and Gaming/2013/Week 7

Monday 25th February
Week 7 Discussion of Aufruhr!

## Is the design of the game's mechanics (board, pieces, cards, etc.) fit for purpose?

Aesthetically a contender for one of the best looking games on the course. Custom game board which mapped the Ruhr region and game components were of a high standard. However, colour coding of the card types (industry, education, etc) needed more clarity as ink wash shades were too hard to tell apart.

## Is the game enjoyable and sociable to play?

General consensus the game was very enjoyable, and the mechanics of the game facilitated lots of player interaction through mayoral voting, bribery, and joint building projects.

## What techniques does the game use to model its chosen subject?

In attempting to model the process of economically developing the Ruhr region the game employs the mechanics of resource management as well as resource distribution on the part of the mayor. It also uses a form of deliberate democracy in the mayoral electoral process.

## How does the game combine abstraction and realism in its workings?

Realism: The game models democracy accurately by showing the power the mayor has as a resource distributor but also how he must also take into consideration the opinions of his electorate.
Abstraction: All cities are equally powerful, even though this may not reflect the real situation. Players develop areas with no consideration to any external forces (e.g. government, local population.)

## How accurately does the game simulate the decision-making processes faced by the real-life protagonists of its chosen subject?

The game is actually rather ambiguous as to who the protagonists are. Are they local governments? Solitary property barons? Or something else altogether? Regardless, the game does present some considerations of these groups such as cost to reward ratio, but does not model the whole building process.

## What political lessons can people learn by playing the game?

As the mayor a player learns the fine line between keeping the electorate happy and personal advancement thus showing a form of deliberative democracy.

## How would you improve the structure and mechanics of the game?

- Bribe mechanic should either have a higher VP rating or should include monetary bribes to give the feature more weight and thus make use of it
- 5 VP developments should take 2 player token markers so the total stock is depleted faster for more tactical considerations
- Players should be able to upgrade 1VP squares to bigger developments at a reduced cost

## Links

* Photos of Week 7 game playing
* Aufruhr! on Board Game Geek
* Spielerei (in German)
* Rules in English
* Turit Fröbe, who lead the project
# SPIR608 Political Simulation and Gaming/2013/Week 4
## Is the design of the game's mechanics (board, pieces, cards, etc.) fit for purpose?

- Well made, simple and intuitive game pieces make the game function well
- Large amounts of information are displayed on the board, meaning minimum time consulting rules

## Is the game enjoyable and sociable to play?

- General consensus that the game is enjoyable to play and was engaging through out
- No wasted turns as in other games, absence of luck makes for strategic play
- The nature of the game facilitated "games within the game" whereby players were competing against each other for vote rich strategic areas

## What techniques does the game use to model its chosen subject?

- The game is comparable to noughts on crosses on steroids - an advanced model of area denial, attempting to stop other players gaining valuable areas as the core technique
- The game utilizes resource management techniques, forcing the player to ration the limited number of voters and corresponding spaces to play them. This emulates the reality of the FPTP electoral system and party safe seats and natural voter affiliations.
- Bluff tiles and electoral cards model the cut and thrust of political campaigning.

## How does the game combine abstraction and realism in its workings?

Realism:
- The game represents in many aspects how sitting in a party HQ would look with elements of resource management, targeting areas of natural support, as well as modelling an actually existing democratic system (Britain in the 1970's).
Abstraction:
- Presumption of equal strength and voter appeal across all parties
- The game departs from the FPTP the post system by assigning points to parties that didn't actually win, thus emulating a more EU election and PR style model of democracy.
- Lacks political context: parties are interchangeable and don't stand for manifestos or ideologies. It also ignores the reality of an incumbent party.

## What political lessons can people learn by playing the game?

- Resource management and the pursuit of natural voter affiliations
- Successful bluff and deception
- A greater knowledge of the workings of the political system

## How would you improve the structure and mechanics of the game?

- More variety in electoral cards other than simply removing voters from the board, which draws out the end game
- Parties could have manifestos and campaign on certain issues for bonuses
- May have been better in a different setting, for example the German system
- Needs modernising to reflect the realities of Britain today
- End game could be speeded up by a faster counting system (e.g. electronic)
- Hard to see how you're actually doing in terms of Parliamentary seats

## Links

* Photos of Week 3 game playing
* More photos of Week 3 game playing
* Election on BoardGameGeek
# SPIR608 Political Simulation and Gaming/2013/Week 8
## How would you improve the structure and mechanics of the game?

- Players should be able to upgrade 1VP squares to bigger developments at a reduced cost

## Links

* Photos of Week 8 game playing
# SPIR608 Political Simulations and Gaming/2011/"Nuclear War?"
## Introduction

The aim of the "Nuclear War" is to accumulate as much money as possible whilst surviving.
The countries involved are divided between members of the NPT and non-members with France, UK, Russia, South Africa, Japan, China, USA and Iran being signed up to the former and Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea being a part of the latter group.
The first player is decided with the roll of a dice;with the 'highest roller' starting the game. The game then commences clockwise.
The game "Nuclear War" wll include nuclear counters, nuclear and intelligence cards as well as artifical money, nuclear clouds and a dice.

## Game mechanics

* Dice Rolling
# SPIR608 Political Simulation and Gaming/2013/Week 5

RED GUARD

## Is the design of the game's mechanics (board, pieces, cards, etc.) fit for purpose?

Pieces are too small, hard to see at a glance where pieces are and belonging to whom on the table.
Pieces need to be more differentiated so that you can make out the pieces from across the table.
Game is a card game, in some sense the small pieces sizes work as it means that you can see who is straining your eyes from across the table to survey for your forces.
Pulling pieces out of the bowl as reinforcements was random, and the starting amounts were also random, leading some players to have effectively lost from the get go.
Good that the varying factions were weighted differently.

## Is the game enjoyable and sociable to play?

The game involved a lot of player interaction, but was at some times confusing for some players.
Winning players tend to get ganged up on by the other players, winning must occur randomly on the death of Mao.
Players who risk their chances and strength are rewarded.

## What techniques does the game use to model its chosen subject?

Purge and subvert - two forms of attack and defence, reminiscent of Valkyrie film of a bureacratic war.

## How does the game combine abstraction and realism in its workings?

It's very abstract, lack of a map of China, involving the ministries and assets of the Chinese state.
Attempt to abstract the different factions seizing power during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, ending in Mao's death.
Mao's chit placement on the game board represented his favoured faction of the time.
Rules were too expansive - the key to any good game is the rules are on the board (as much as possible).

## How accurately does the game simulate the decision-making processes faced by the real-life protagonists of its chosen subject?

The game tries to do too much, if it focused on what it's good at, the war between the institutions for example, and leave out trying to simulate various other elements such as Mao's random death.
Accurately simulates the chaos of Chinese politics during the Cultural Revolution.

## What political lessons can people learn by playing the game?

Nothing to do with Marxism, all about power.
Importance of institutions, and what they represent, making up the state.

## How would you improve the structure and mechanics of the game?

Cards and pieces could be bigger and better designed.
Fewer random elements, Mao's death etc.
Improve or remove secondary objectives, players very rarely achieve them.

## Note

We didn't use the Chaos Index.

## Links

* Photos of Week 5 game playing
* 2011 class discussion of Red Guard
* 2011 class discussion of Comrade Koba
* Photos of 2011 class playing Red Guard
* Photos of 2011 class playing Comrade Koba
* Red Guard on BoardGameGeek
* Comrade Koba on BoardGameGeek
* Brain Train's website
* Theory trading cards game
# Rwandan Genocide

This History resource is a "stub". Learn how you can help Wikiversity to develop it.
The Rwandan Genocide (1994) involved the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers in Rwanda and was the largest atrocity during the Rwandan Civil War and was one of the most significant human atrocities of the twentieth century.

## Overview

* The Rwandan genocide was mostly carried out by two extremist Hutu militia groups, the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi, during about 100 days from April 6 through mid-July, 1994.
* Somewhere between half a million and one million people were systematically slaughtered in three months (~100 days).
* Approx. 14% of the Rwandan population died, including approximately 77% of Tutsis living in Rwanda.
* This is numerically equivalent to approximately three September 11 incidents occurring every day for three months.
* At least 500,000 Tutsis and thousands of moderate Hutus died. Note that several estimates put the death toll between 700,000 and 1,000,000, depending on the source.
# Russian literature
## Introduction to the Russian Novel

Russia’s contribution to world culture in literature and the arts (e.g., painting, dance, theater, and music) has been incredibly robust in the past century and a half, with the Russian novel emerging as preeminent in the development of the novel as a literary form. What were the social and cultural factors that led to nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russian writers producing such a remarkable outpouring of literary works? Why did these texts resonate so strongly with European and American readers to earn them the reputation of some of the best works of literature ever written? How did the novel become such a prominent form not only of literary art, but also of social criticism? How has Russia’s position between East and West shaped this intellectual tradition and informed the productive and destructive tensions that have defined Russia’s cultural heritage?
These are just some of the questions addressed in this introductory course on the Russian novel. Whether you are deeply interested and well read in Russian cultural history or just an avid reader looking for some great books, this course provides much of the necessary background to bring these famous books to life. The study questions below will help direct the reading of those new to Russian literature, and will provide food for thought even for those well verse in Russian literary history.

## Readings

Any standard edition of the following works will suffice for those looking for a convenient introduction to the Russian, but we have listed preferred translations for those who feel that translations matter (we do). By clicking on the links to each novel below, you will find a comprehensive introduction to each work, including plot summaries, major themes, lists of main characters, publication histories, and references to scholarly works on each novel.
Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, trans. James Falen (available on Kindle)
Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls, trans. Bernard Guerney, ed. Susanne Fusso
Mikhail Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time, trans. Vladimir and Dmitri Nabokov
Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Children, trans. Michael Katz
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground, trans. Michael Katz
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Yevgeney Zamyatin, We, trans. Natasha Randall and Bruce Sterling
Yuri Olesha, Envy, trans. Marian Schwartz
Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita, trans. R. Pevear and L. Volokhonsky
Viktor Pelevin, Buddha’s Little Finger, trans. Andrew Bromfield
# Russian Roulette (Drinking Game)

Russian Roulette is a drinking game based upon the infamous, deadly game of Russian Roulette. The exceptions being the gun and bullet are replaced. In this case, the 'gun' is in actuality a plate of six shot glasses, representing the chamber of a revolver, and the bullet is one shot of clear vodka, straight. The empty 'chambers' are instead filled with water. Primarily played in a group setting, each player can have their own 'gun', or take turns from the same one. After selecting which 'chamber' you will start with, you go clockwise in a fashion similar to that of an actual revolver. After any shot you take of water, you place the empty glass back on the plate and say: "Click." If you get the shot with vodka, after you place the glass down, you say: "Bang." The 'chambers' can be switched if you desire, having the 'bullet' be the one shot with water, and the 'empty chambers' contain vodka instead.

## Risks and considerations

Excessive and binge drinking is extremely bad for the health and can lead to alcohol poisoning, alcoholism and long term damage to a person's health. Please visit the following pages and bring back information that will assist people who have concerns for friends and relatives engaging in drinking games and binge drinking.
* Recognize and treat alcohol poisoning
* Short term effects of alcohol
* Long term effects of alcohol

## Resources for counseling

If you have experience in counseling people with alcohol abuse behavior, please offer advice and links to resources here.
* Alcoholism
* Alternatives to partying

## Research

If you have conducted or know of reliable research relating to this topic, please link to it here.
# Social Studies

This page is designed for research, improvements and advanced studying on society, culture and human life.

## Introduction

The way people live has a gigantic effect on the world around us. The way we live is determined mostly by what role we play in society and what role society plays in us, society is what builds human civilisation. Research on Society is the key to human development and advanced culture which can lead to affectionate improvements in everyday life and can bring an end to problems such as racism, sexism, elitism and corruption.

## Research pages

* Geographic Regions
* Bodies of Water and Land Features
* Ethnography
* Social information
* Effects of society
* Society in the United States
* Society in the United Kingdom
* Social improvements
* Social projects
* Social groups
* Social thought
* Free culture movement
* Civilization and society
* Ethnical allingments
* Racism
* Social domination theory
* Topic:Social theory
* Internet Society
* Social Problems

## Portals

* Portal:Social Research
# Social Theory
## The territory as a concept
### Some discussions around it in social sciences

The meaning and potential of the concept of “territory” has not always been in the center of the discussions in social sciences. Although we can find extensive bibliography about this matter among geographers (Ratzel was a German geographer who is considered the pioneer in human geography and responsible for the concept of territory in that science) since the end of XIX century, we can say that it was not until contemporary times that this topic became important in most of the social disciplines: sociology, economics, anthropology, political science, etc.
In this short article, my purpose is to give an introduction to the history of this concept and its potential of explanation of social processes.
The first geographers that use the concept of territory at the end of the XIX century did so in reference to the concept of state. That is to say, the territory was considered the limited portion of land over which the state has its sovereignty and to establish those limits conflict and social confrontation are unavoidable.
In the XX century, several social scientists recovered the concept of territory as a product of power struggles referring not only to the state, but to almost all social relationships: cultural, economic, political, etc.
Robert Sack is the author who rethinks the concept of territory and its importance to understand some social behaviors and relations. He proposed to analyze the territory in terms of motivations: "Territoriality does not exist unless there is an attempt by individuals or groups to affect the interactions of others" (Sack, 1986: 30). Nevertheless, Sack focuses on physical limits and the control of the area defined by those limits as the main meaning of territory; he does not consider the relational aspects of this matter.
This theoretical deficit was reformulated by the influence of Michel Foucault’s theory. His influence is very clear in books like Pour une géographie du pouvoir (For a Geography of Power) by Claude Raffestin. Raffestin is concerned about understanding how, in different social, spatial and temporal situations, relationships between society and space are produced by powers and reproduce powers.
In Latin America we can find authors like Lopes de Souza (1995), Milton Santos (2000) and several social scientists who are working on the potential of this concept to think and understand some relationships, conflicts and social interactions that help us to define identities, social movements and political aspects of our societies.

## Readings

* Social theory

### Wikipedia

* Social theory
* Social criticism
* Social commentary
* History of sociology
* Outline of sociology
* ]Index of sociology articles
* Critical theory
# Scheme/Locally free sheaf/Torsor/Ext and projective bundles/Remark

Let ${\mathcal {S}}$ denote a locally free sheaf on a scheme $X$. For a cohomology class $c\in H^{1}(X,{\mathcal {S}})$ one can construct a geometric object: Because of $H^{1}(X,{\mathcal {S}})\cong \operatorname {Ext} ^{1}({\mathcal {O}}_{X},{\mathcal {S}})$, the class defines an extension
    $0\longrightarrow {\mathcal {S}}\longrightarrow {{\mathcal {S}}'}\longrightarrow {\mathcal {O}}_{X}\longrightarrow 0.$
This extension is such that under the connecting homomorphism of cohomology, $1\in \Gamma (X,{\mathcal {O}}_{X})$ is sent to $c\in H^{1}(X,{\mathcal {S}})$. The extension yields a projective subbundle
    ${\mathbb {P} }({\mathcal {S}}^{\vee })\subset {\mathbb {P} }({{\mathcal {S}}'}^{\vee })\,.$
If $V$ is the corresponding geometric vector bundle of ${\mathcal {S}}$, one may think of ${\mathbb {P} }({\mathcal {S}}^{\vee })$ as ${\mathbb {P} }(V)$ which consists for every base point $x\in X$ of all the lines in the fiber $V_{x}$ passing through the origin. The projective subbundle ${\mathbb {P} }(V)$ has codimension one inside ${\mathbb {P} }(V')$, for every point it is a projective space lying (linearly) inside a projective space of one dimension higher. The complement is then over every point an affine space. One can show that the global complement
    $T={\mathbb {P} }({{\mathcal {S}}'}^{\vee })\setminus {\mathbb {P} }({\mathcal {S}}^{\vee })\,$
is another model for the torsor given by the cohomology class. The advantage of this viewpoint is that we may work, in particular when $X$ is projective, in an entirely projective setting.
# Scheme/Locally free sheaves and vector bundles/Equivalence/Fact

Let $X$ denote a scheme.
$X$
$X$
A geometric vector bundle $V\rightarrow X$ corresponds to the sheaf of its sections, and a locally free sheaf ${\mathcal {F}}$ corresponds to the (relative) spectrum of the symmetric algebra of the dual module ${\mathcal {F}}^{*}$.
# Scholarly work
## What is scholarly work?

Scholarly work is peer-reviewed, written by an authority on the subject at hand, or is produced by a reputable association - and in many cases, all of the above. Books and journal articles should include an author, information about the author, and be published by a known journal, association, or corporation. If there is no author listed, there is a good chance that the resource is not considered scholarly. Scholarly work is most often available through the library, rather than publicly accessible online (though there are of course exceptions, so be sure to look around!) and will not include advertisements. As well, if an article is published by a journal, take the time to find out more information about the journal, which should be easily accessible. If you cannot find the information needed to determine whether or not the work is scholarly, then you should use caution; it should be easy to examine the credentials of scholarly sources. Further caution should also be exercised in the process of reading the contents on an article before referring to them in your own work. The process of an article undergoing a peer-review is meant to promote the validity and reliability of the content. However, not all scholars who perform peer-reviews are rigorous in their analysis of another scholar's work, therefore proceed with an open and analytical mind by reviewing the methods used to conduct a study in journal article and verify those findings with those of other researchers. It is common to find articles with different results on a given topic, but there should be sound logic, a persuasive argument, and most importantly reliable research methods to support a scholar's findings.
To see the images, go to http://mlis.wikia.com/wiki/Scholarly_work_vs._Non-scholarly_work#What_is_scholarly_work.3F
It is important to know what resources are typically considered scholarly and how to differentiate
between a scholarly source and a non-scholarly source. To aid in your understanding, here are two charts that compare and contrast the characteristics of scholarly and non-scholarly work.
The left-hand chart comes from St. Charles College Library while the right-hand chart is from Carthage College Library. Many university/college libraries have subject guides or tutorials that cover this topic. You may want to explore other library websites for more information.

## What is scholarly work? (another version)

This ultimately a subjective judgement about the quality of the work. Key elements in determining whether a work is "scholarly" might include:
* Is the work peer-reviewed? (e.g., journal articles and edited books usually are)
* What are the credentials of the author(s)? (e.g., are they recognised as having expertise in this area e.g., through qualification and/or appointment to an academic/professional role?)
* What are the credentials of the publisher? A well recognised publisher will generally have more exacting editorial standards than say, at the other extreme, a self-published book.
In scholarly writing, strive to utilise and cite the highest quality academic sources in relation to the topic.