Latest news with #Scholars
Al Jazeera
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Progress, Secularism and the Orientalist Gaze
Centre Stage Olivier Roy, a professor of Orientalism, joins Centre Stage to talk about the roots of Orientalism and the enduring myth of how only the West represents progress. From colonial-era narratives to modern-day politics, Roy explores how the Global South is still perceived through a Eurocentric lens — and what that says about our civilisation, modernity and the West's ongoing struggle with pluralism. This episode is produced in partnership with the International Conference on Orientalism, an intellectual and academic platform that brings together leading scholars in the field to foster informed dialogue towards a balanced civilizational engagement. Video Duration 20 minutes 47 seconds 20:47 Video Duration 24 minutes 13 seconds 24:13 Video Duration 17 minutes 38 seconds 17:38 Video Duration 23 minutes 28 seconds 23:28 Video Duration 20 minutes 11 seconds 20:11 Video Duration 24 minutes 25 seconds 24:25 Video Duration 18 minutes 40 seconds 18:40
Zawya
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
CGTN: Beauty in diversity: How wisdom at Nishan Forum inspires global modernization
BEIJING, CHINA - Media OutReach Newswire - 10 July 2025 - As the 11th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations takes place in east China's Qufu City, CGTN published an article highlighting the importance of dialogue and mutual learning among civilizations to promote harmonious coexistence, shared prosperity, and the safeguarding of traditional values in the face of modern challenges. "Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?" This opening question and well-known saying from the Analects of Confucius has been transformed into a vivid reality as experts and scholars from across the world gathered at the 11th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations in east China's Qufu City. The forum is named after Nishan Mountain, formerly known as the Ni Qiu Hill, about 30 kilometers southeast of Qufu – the birthplace of the great Chinese thinker and educator Confucius (551-479 BC). Since its first edition in 2010, the forum has become a platform for understanding China and fostering international cultural and civilizational exchanges. Taking place from Wednesday to Thursday, the 11th Nishan Forum attracted more than 500 global leaders, scholars and cultural figures to explore the role of ancient wisdom in shaping the modern world with the theme of "Beauty in Diversity: Nurturing Understanding Among Civilizations for Global Modernization." Understanding among civilizations highlighted Scholars at the forum underscored the essential role that cultural exchange and mutual learning among civilizations play in advancing human progress. Noting armed conflicts have resurfaced in today's turbulent world, Madagascar's Ambassador to China Jean Louis Robinson spoke highly of the forum, saying that its role in promoting harmonious coexistence and shared prosperity among diverse cultures and civilizations has become all the more significant. China-proposed Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) won praise from foreign participants. In March 2023, China introduced the GCI, which calls for respect for global civilizational diversity, the promotion of shared human values, the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and the strengthening of international cultural exchanges. Hussain Mohamed Latheef, vice president of the Republic of Maldives, described the GCI as a timely reminder of the need to respect and understand diverse cultures worldwide. "The initiative promotes shared human values, aims to balance tradition with innovation, and supports cultural exchange and development," Latheef added. Some of the experts spoke highly of the influence of Confucianism, which is known for its five key concepts, namely benevolence, or "ren" in Chinese, righteousness, or "yi," propriety, "li," wisdom, "zhi," and trustworthiness, "xin." Dr Salome Nyambura, director of the Confucius Institute at Kenyatta University, told CGTN that close people-to-people exchanges between China and Kenya have made more Kenyans interested in Confucianism. Echoing Nyambura, Riccardo Pozzo, professor of History of Philosophy at Tor Vergata University of Rome, said that Confucianism can provide valuable solutions to bridge traditional and modern issues and solve modern problems, citing the saying from the Analects that "If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge and continually acquires new knowledge, he may become a teacher to others." Global modernization deeply rooted in fertile soil of civilizations As well as fueling academic dialogue and people-to-people connections, exchanges among civilizations are also expected to generate valuable insights to tackle global challenges and open up diverse pathways for modernization. China is committed to offering new opportunities to the world through the achievements of its unique path to modernization, and providing new momentum to global partners through its vast domestic market, Sun Chunlan, president of the International Confucian Association, said when addressing the opening of the forum. China's poverty alleviation efforts and global cooperation on poverty reduction have provided relevant examples, demonstrating that the development of civilization should be "people-oriented" and that the fruits of development can benefit more groups. Wang Xuedian, vice president of the International Confucian Association, said that civilizations must engage in dialogue and mutual learning to explore development paths that align with their own cultural contexts. By drawing on advanced productive forces and promoting traditional values, different civilizations can bridge developmental gaps and realize the common prosperity and harmonious coexistence of multiple civilizations, Wang added. As for Latheef, humanity must work together to safeguard cultural traditions and values while embracing new ideas and changes to adapt to global modernization. Roger T. Ames, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Hawaii and Humanities Chair Professor at Peking University, said that the urgent task is to transform individualism into a conscious awareness of a united global community, adding that the Confucian values of fairness, inclusiveness and harmony offer valuable guidance for addressing the pressing challenges of the modern world. Hashtag: #CGTN The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. CGTN
Malay Mail
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
CGTN: Beauty in diversity: How wisdom at Nishan Forum inspires global modernization
BEIJING, CHINA - Media OutReach Newswire - 10 July 2025 - As the 11th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations takes place in east China's Qufu City, CGTN published an article highlighting the importance of dialogue and mutual learning among civilizations to promote harmonious coexistence, shared prosperity, and the safeguarding of traditional values in the face of modern challenges."Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?" This opening question and well-known saying from the Analects of Confucius has been transformed into a vivid reality as experts and scholars from across the world gathered at the 11th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations in east China's Qufu forum is named after Nishan Mountain, formerly known as the Ni Qiu Hill, about 30 kilometers southeast of Qufu – the birthplace of the great Chinese thinker and educator Confucius (551-479 BC). Since its first edition in 2010, the forum has become a platform for understanding China and fostering international cultural and civilizational place from Wednesday to Thursday, the 11th Nishan Forum attracted more than 500 global leaders, scholars and cultural figures to explore the role of ancient wisdom in shaping the modern world with the theme of "Beauty in Diversity: Nurturing Understanding Among Civilizations for Global Modernization."Scholars at the forum underscored the essential role that cultural exchange and mutual learning among civilizations play in advancing human armed conflicts have resurfaced in today's turbulent world, Madagascar's Ambassador to China Jean Louis Robinson spoke highly of the forum, saying that its role in promoting harmonious coexistence and shared prosperity among diverse cultures and civilizations has become all the more Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) won praise from foreign participants. In March 2023, China introduced the GCI, which calls for respect for global civilizational diversity, the promotion of shared human values, the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and the strengthening of international cultural Mohamed Latheef, vice president of the Republic of Maldives, described the GCI as a timely reminder of the need to respect and understand diverse cultures worldwide. "The initiative promotes shared human values, aims to balance tradition with innovation, and supports cultural exchange and development," Latheef of the experts spoke highly of the influence of Confucianism, which is known for its five key concepts, namely benevolence, or "ren" in Chinese, righteousness, or "yi," propriety, "li," wisdom, "zhi," and trustworthiness, "xin."Dr Salome Nyambura, director of the Confucius Institute at Kenyatta University, told CGTN that close people-to-people exchanges between China and Kenya have made more Kenyans interested in Nyambura, Riccardo Pozzo, professor of History of Philosophy at Tor Vergata University of Rome, said that Confucianism can provide valuable solutions to bridge traditional and modern issues and solve modern problems, citing the saying from the Analects that "If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge and continually acquires new knowledge, he may become a teacher to others."As well as fueling academic dialogue and people-to-people connections, exchanges among civilizations are also expected to generate valuable insights to tackle global challenges and open up diverse pathways for is committed to offering new opportunities to the world through the achievements of its unique path to modernization, and providing new momentum to global partners through its vast domestic market, Sun Chunlan, president of the International Confucian Association, said when addressing the opening of the poverty alleviation efforts and global cooperation on poverty reduction have provided relevant examples, demonstrating that the development of civilization should be "people-oriented" and that the fruits of development can benefit more Xuedian, vice president of the International Confucian Association, said that civilizations must engage in dialogue and mutual learning to explore development paths that align with their own cultural drawing on advanced productive forces and promoting traditional values, different civilizations can bridge developmental gaps and realize the common prosperity and harmonious coexistence of multiple civilizations, Wang for Latheef, humanity must work together to safeguard cultural traditions and values while embracing new ideas and changes to adapt to global T. Ames, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Hawaii and Humanities Chair Professor at Peking University, said that the urgent task is to transform individualism into a conscious awareness of a united global community, adding that the Confucian values of fairness, inclusiveness and harmony offer valuable guidance for addressing the pressing challenges of the modern #CGTN The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Cision Canada
09-07-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
iMerit Unveils Scholars - A Handpicked Global Network of Cognitive Experts for Advanced GenAI Training
Invite-only community of expert talent is shaping the next wave of Generative AI and AGI SAN JOSE, Calif., July 9, 2025 /CNW/ -- iMerit, a leader in software-delivered AI data, today announced wide availability of its Scholars program. The global network of subject matter experts, handpicked for their specialized knowledge and cognitive skills, serves a large and urgent ongoing need for secure and high quality model tuning among Generative AI foundation model and applied AI customers. Expertise as Infrastructure The Generative AI arms race focuses on compute and algorithms, while iMerit focuses on the third pillar: expert-led data. iMerit Scholars curates and matches thousands of cognitive specialists, many with advanced degrees in computer science, medicine, biology, finance, law, and policy. They frequently have multilingual or multi-domain capabilities. The launch comes at a pivotal moment as enterprises and research labs increasingly seek to differentiate their AI systems through specialized knowledge and human oversight. The last mile of specialization of these models relies on expert prompting and reasoning inputs by subject matter experts in domains like medicine, STEM, and coding. At the same time, outcomes are highly dependent on the quality and sophistication of the tuning data created by experts. "Foundation models and their applications are moving into a crucial phase where they have to be tuned and validated by extremely clean expert-led data. Our Scholars team includes PhDs, MDs, lawyers, linguists, and engineers. Their exceptional problem-setting skills directly shape the quality and performance of the models," said Radha Basu, CEO of iMerit. "Our decade-long background in AI data gives us deep insights into how to assemble the most creative and engaged experts to lead this next wave." Scholars is backed by Deep Reasoning Lab (DRL) - a specialized generative AI module in iMerit's AI data software, Ango Hub. Ango DRL connects automated pipelines, model evaluators, and specialized human judgment at production scale. Ango DRL supports multi-domain and multimodal prompting, chain-of-thought reasoning and other interaction modes that allow the human expert to teach, question and correct models under development. "The industry needs this capability at a large scale but is also highly sensitive to the quality and variety of the tuning data. Scholars curates the most elite AI teachers," said Robert Laing, VP of Global Specialist Workforce at iMerit. "It's not just about degrees but about motivation, engagement and about a cognitive toolbox of skills like meta-cognition, critical thinking, creativity and cultural empathy. That's the only way to be accountable for the mission-critical results iMerit is known for." Recent projects include ambient scribe tuning, where physicians shape a model to perform better at creating clinical notes from an audio recording of a doctor-patient interaction. In another assignment, mathematicians participated in a chain-of-thought project, where they improved the ability of the model to solve complex problems by iteratively coaching it past the failed steps in its reasoning. iMerit has also helped create language-vision models which use speech generation to describe the actions of an autonomous vehicle, thus improving safety and explainability. "From the start, I felt as though I had already been part of the team for a long time. Communication was seamless, everyone was approachable and supportive, and we handled challenges with ease," said Burak Ekseli, a Language Specialist, based in Turkey. "It's been one of the most positive and enriching experiences I've had in this field, strengthening both my skills and my confidence." To learn more about Scholars, visit or contact [email protected]. About iMerit iMerit is a leading AI data company that powers advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence models. iMerit delivers high-quality data across industries such as autonomous mobility, medical AI, high-tech — enabling trusted, ethical, and scalable AI through its software Ango Hub. iMerit is backed by Khosla Ventures, Omidyar Network, and British International Investment (BII). Learn more at
Boston Globe
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Love abounds at Boston Early Music Festival
'Early music' is a generous umbrella that covers a wide range of repertoire, but the festival acts tend to have a certain sense of artistic agency in common. There's no one alive who remembers how exactly this music was performed in its original setting. It predates recording so there's none of that, and documents can only get you so far. So what are you going to do with it? Every decision-maker in the early music world must answer that question for themselves, and the revered festival in Boston consistently draws artists who delight in finding those answers. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up As one example is the Tallis Scholars, a United Kingdom-based vocal ensemble directed by the seemingly tireless Peter Phillips since 1973. The group tends to hang onto its singers for the long haul. According to the festival's souvenir program book, which this year weighs 2 pounds, 5 ounces, alto Caroline Taylor logged her 2,000th performance with the group in Boston this past winter during their customary annual Christmastime visit. The Scholars go deep, not wide; unaccompanied sacred music from the Renaissance is their bread and butter, and their Sistine Chapel-inspired program on Wednesday fell comfortably into that niche. Advertisement Emmanuel Church was the perfect setting for that program, which weaved individual movements from five Palestrina masses with standalone pieces from the time period, including Gregorio Allegri's 'Miserere,' maybe one of the most mythologized pieces of music in human history. For that piece, one ensemble of five singers stood front and center in the apse with another crew of four placed in the side balcony, and one tenor on the lectern threaded the needle with the simple but crucial chants that connected the choral passages. Hearing it live in that setting and performed with such expertise was an experience akin to (theoretically) watching the 'Pietà' being sculpted, if the 'Pietà' had been made of ephemeral sand rather than sturdy marble. As an encore the group whipped out Purcell's 'Hear My Prayer, O Lord' and polished its dissonances to an eerie shine. Wednesday's program proved stronger than the Scholars' Monday evening show at Jordan Hall, which brought out the English Cornett and Sackbut ensemble for the first piece — a mighty performance of Lassus's 'Omnes de Saba,' with the united winds roaring along. All then exited so the stage setup could be reconfigured by a lone heroic stagehand, a process that seemed to take about as long as the piece itself had. Advertisement After that, no more brass and winds appeared until the final pieces of the second half. The evening had fine performances all around from both ensembles; did the directors worry people might leave at intermission if they didn't hear any sackbuts right away? More rehearsal and better planning might have helped. The 10:30 p.m. concert slot each night tends to feel like an intimate secret club, where one might find something they'd hear nowhere else. Lute songs are hardly rare repertoire, but interpreters as astute as tenor Aaron Sheehan (a BEMF regular who's also performing in the mainstage opera, Reinhard Keiser's 'Octavia') and festival co-artistic director Paul O'Dette? That was the treat offered to Monday's night owls, a haze of songs dedicated to women and wine with highlights including a rending 'In Darkness Let Me Dwell' and a handful of silken instrumentals. The pair hailed the boozier selections with a sip of red wine. Tuesday's late-night slot gave the Jordan Hall stage to O'Dette's longtime partner in BEMF leadership, Stephen Stubbs, and his West Coast-based Pacific MusicWorks. The program promised 'Murder, Mayhem, Melancholy and Madness,' and the balance of the program strongly tilted toward melancholy — my appetite was more for mayhem and madness than mournful dirges, especially after the previous night's lute-driven angst, but soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah's sylvan take on Purcell's 'Bess of Bedlam' was worth keeping my eyes open for. Earlier that same evening Jordan Hall hosted the local premiere of Boston Camerata's 'A Gallery of Kings,' an eclectic program of the triumphs, trials, and tribulations of power in medieval Europe. It featured four male singers, director-soprano Anne Azéma, and two versatile instrumentalists — Shira Kammen on harp and vielle (medieval violin ancestor) and Dan Meyers with an arsenal of wind and percussion instruments. Advertisement The material was grouped loosely according to subject matter — here abusive kings, here courageous kings, here kings in love — and addressed rulers both historical and fictional. It was all handsomely performed, if somewhat all over the place in focus. Azéma and Kammen locked in on a brightly saucy Provencal troubadour song, and bass-baritone John Taylor Ward frankly stunned with King David's lamentation for Jonathan, inhabiting the music with genuinely wrenching grief that never approached schmaltz or camp as Kammen's vielle keened along. But the most memorable performance so far has been that by the Oslo-based Trio Mediaeval, which is approaching its 30th anniversary with 66 percent of its founding members (Anna Maria Friman and Andrea Fuglseth) still on board. Songs of praise by Hildegard von Bingen and polyphony by English composer Leonel Power braided seamlessly with the 14th-century Tournai Mass, the movements of which were likely written by different composers across several decades. Guest instrumentalist Kevin Devine improvised accompaniment on hurdy-gurdy and organetto, which can be most easily described as a harp-size pipe organ that balances on the player's knee. Friman also occasionally deployed a Hardanger fiddle — the national instrument of Norway, a violin that features additional unplayed strings for extra resonance. The instrument postdates the repertoire they were singing by a couple hundred years, but historical accuracy was not the goal; had that been so, they likely wouldn't have been singing the Tournai Mass at all, as it almost definitely would have been sung by men. If the Tallis Scholars brought to mind images of stone cathedrals, the Trio evoked a wooden stave church. There was a wild streak in their sound that should not be confused for lack of cohesion or discipline; rather, their individual voices were clear and distinctive even when singing as a unit, and out of those differences they alchemized unity. Advertisement The title of Wednesday's program, 'love abounds in everything,' might well be this group's philosophy. Hopefully they'll be back before too long. BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL Through June 15. Various venues. A.Z. Madonna can be reached at
