#BookLaunch in London 📚 Tuesday, February 13th at 6pm, Eylaf Bader Eddin presents his new book on how the #SyrianRevolution also changed the language at @LSEMiddleEast. You can register here 👉lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre…

🔓 If you're already missing #OAweek23 and can't wait until next year, don't go anywhere! We talk about open access all year round at De Gruyter. On our blog – find out why #SubscribeToOpen unlocks a more inclusive and sustainable path to open access: blog.degruyter.com/subscribe…

We are excited to announce that De Gruyter and Brill have reached an agreement to join forces and form De Gruyter Brill, the leading academic publisher in the #Humanities - learn more in our joint press release: bit.ly/3rPqX0m

📢 We're very excited for an upcoming launch of the new book on Paul by @ryancollman! See below for info and streaming👇🏼 There will also be a book giveaway and a 50% discount for attendees (great chance to pick up a second copy 😉).

The outcome of #PeerReview can make or break a researcher’s career. With this weighty responsibility in mind, could we ever bestow this task upon #AI technology? For #PeerReviewWeek, we asked our editors for their views. Follow #DeGruyterPRW today to see what they had to say.

Dr. Christoph Steiner, editor of the journal “Open Agriculture,” is skeptical about AI's capabilities to evaluate science. Find his full statement and more insights on AI in peer review on our blog: blog.degruyter.com/artificia… #DeGruyterPRW #PeerReviewWeek @PeerRevWeek

For Prof. Paulo de Medeiros, editor of the book series “Culture and Conflict,” the future use of AI in peer review is a given, but the abandonment of personal judgment is not. Read more on the topic here: blog.degruyter.com/artificia… #DeGruyterPRW #PeerReviewWeek @PeerRevWeek

Some Money Talk... Because of how the P4A works, we raise money all throughout the year now, but don't send it out until after the livestream. That means that we can have as much as a million dollars in the bank for over six months. So we put that money in a CD so that it can generate a little extra income. It's 5% for six months so a meaningful amount...maybe $25,000. The thing is, you can look at that and say, "Oh, why not just do that? Why not take all of the money the P4A has ever raised and, instead of donating it, you could earn 5% on it and then donate the 5% forever?" This is what endowments are and that's how they work. If we did this (WHICH WE WOULD NOT (which i'll get into)) then there would be like $15M in that account and we'd be donating $750,000 per year...theoretically forever. That sounds amazing! There are a lot of people who are very compelled by endowments like this, because the main nugget of money never goes away and is always throwing off more good into the world. This misses something very important. It imagines that donations are one-time goods while capital throwing off money in an endowment is a forever good. But that's not the reality. The reality is, when you donate money, the good that money does does not vanish the moment the money is spent, it continues to do good forever, you just can't see it anymore. If you help a mother not die in childbirth, then that doesn't just do good that one time, it does good for her and her community and her children for the rest of her life...longer than the rest of her life! Her children will have the support of that person who otherwise would have died. They will continue to live healthier and better lives because they did not lose their mother as children. They will be better prepared to serve their own community and their own children. Those returns continue /forever/. There is economic return on donations, they are just returns that you can't see as a number in your bank account. And those returns are MUCH BIGGER than 5% per year. If you are a person with money and you have a charitable giving account and you can see that there is currently more money in that account than you have ever donated...I'm sorry but you are doing it wrong. The money needs to get out and do good now. There isn't some future time when it will be more capable of doing more good because it has grown. It needs to get into the world. It can be doing so much good. And if you don't know what to do with it, just send us an email at hankandjohn@gmail.com. We've got you.

🗳️ Over decades, civil rights leader Gregory T. Moore has worked tirelessly to reform US voter registration laws. We interviewed him about the increasing threats to the #VotingRightsAct and his views on the future of American democracy. #DemocracyDay 🔗 blog.degruyter.com/protectin…

For context, there are two types of tests that cost $10 and $15 respectively but cost the same to make. Selling these tests for $5 is still a healthy profit for the company and lead directly to life-saving treatment. @DanaherCorp @CepheidNews #PeopleOverProfits

📣 We are uniting with activists around the globe to make TB testing faster, more accessible, and affordable for all. Help us amplify our collective voice by tweeting @CepheidNews & @DanaherCorp to urge them to reduce the price of all GeneXpert tests to just $5. @StopTB #EndTB

Ending tuberculosis is a political choice. Failing to end tuberculosis--and allowing 1.5 million people to die every year of a curable disease--is also a political choice. Loved this blog post. #EndTB

Opening in our Dept

#NewsFromOurMembers.📚@degruyter_TRS has just updated its #OpenAccess database on “Religion and Urbanity Online" Browse it here 👉bit.ly/3Y4HTvn

Attention authors! 📢 Want to know how to navigate the publishing world and find the best press for your book? Our very own Manuela Gerlof has all the tips and tricks. Don't miss her comprehensive guide in #FeedingTheElephant @HNetBookChannel. 🔗 networks.h-net.org/group/dis…

If you are a religion scholar (ABD okay) interested in teaching “The Meaning of Death” for my department Spring 2024 email me your CV! Much appreciated if you can share with your networks.

Excited for folks to read the next volume in our @degruyter_TRS Introductions to Digital Humanities – Religion book series: Digital Humanities and Religions in Asia James, edited by Cornelis van Lit @LWCvL & Harry Morris @JHMorris89 coming out later this year.

August 14-18th in Chicago, IL, experience the 2023 @InterfaithWorld event as they bring together religious leaders, industry experts, and organizers. Use the Heritage Program's discount code SJBreg and register today! ow.ly/LwW750PlVu8 #HeritageProgram #Bible #Faith

🌞 July is a big month for Biblical Studies – conferences in Pretoria, Syracuse and Vienna! @degruyter_TRS have been busy meeting authors and taking nice photos along the way.

After great conversations about digital religion and religion&media at #ismrc23, a reminder that I put together some resources on digital religion: giuliaevolvi.com/digital-rel… I have been slow in updating it later, but if you have an article/book on the topic I love self-promotion.