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by mburkert -

The New York Times Declares: “the humanities enrich our souls”

The following is from the NYT article “Starving for Wisdom,” by Nicholas Kristof, published on April 6, 2015.

Starving for Wisdom

A liberal arts curriculum and a broad reading list are important to critical thinking. Credit Shannon Jensen for The New York Times

 

“We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom.”

That epigram from E.O. Wilson captures the dilemma of our era. Yet the solution of some folks is to disdain wisdom.

“Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists?” Rick Scott, the Florida governor,once asked. A leader of a prominent Internet company once told me that the firm regards admission to Harvard as a useful heuristic of talent, but a college education itself as useless.

Parents and students themselves are acting on these principles, retreating from the humanities. Among college graduates in 1971, there were about two business majors for each English major. Now there are seven times as many. (I was a political science major; if I were doing it over, I’d be an economics major with a foot in the humanities.)

I’ve been thinking about this after reading Fareed Zakaria’s smart new book, “In Defense of a Liberal Education.” Like Zakaria, I think that the liberal arts teach critical thinking (not to mention nifty words like “heuristic”).

So, to answer the skeptics, here are my three reasons the humanities enrich our souls and sometimes even our pocketbooks as well.

First, liberal arts equip students with communications and interpersonal skills that are valuable and genuinely rewarded in the labor force, especially when accompanied by technical abilities.

“A broad liberal arts education is a key pathway to success in the 21st-century economy,” says Lawrence Katz, a labor economist at Harvard. Katz says that the economic return to pure technical skills has flattened, and the highest return now goes to those who combine soft skills — excellence at communicating and working with people — with technical skills.

“So I think a humanities major who also did a lot of computer science, economics, psychology, or other sciences can be quite valuable and have great career flexibility,” Katz said. “But you need both, in my view, to maximize your potential. And an economics major or computer science major or biology or engineering or physics major who takes serious courses in the humanities and history also will be a much more valuable scientist, financial professional, economist, or entrepreneur.”

My second reason: We need people conversant with the humanities to help reach wise public policy decisions, even about the sciences. Technology companies must constantly weigh ethical decisions: Where should Facebook set its privacy defaults, and should it tolerate glimpses of nudity? Should Twitter close accounts that seem sympathetic to terrorists? How should Google handle sex and violence, or defamatory articles?

In the policy realm, one of the most important decisions we humans will have to make is whether to allow germline gene modification. This might eliminate certain diseases, ease suffering, make our offspring smarter and more beautiful. But it would also change our species. It would enable the wealthy to concoct superchildren. It’s exhilarating and terrifying.

To weigh these issues, regulators should be informed by first-rate science, but also by first-rate humanism. After all, Homer addressed similar issues three millenniums ago.

In “The Odyssey,” the beautiful nymph Calypso offers immortality to Odysseus if he will stay on her island. After a fling with her, Odysseus ultimately rejects the offer because he misses his wife, Penelope. He turns down godlike immortality to embrace suffering and death that are essential to the human condition.

Likewise, when the President’s Council on Bioethics issued its report in 2002, “Human Cloning and Human Dignity,” it cited scientific journals but also Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” Even science depends upon the humanities to shape judgments about ethics, limits and values.

Third, wherever our careers lie, much of our happiness depends upon our interactions with those around us, and there’s some evidence that literature nurtures a richer emotional intelligence.

Science magazine published five studies indicating that research subjects who read literary fiction did better at assessing the feelings of a person in a photo than those who read nonfiction or popular fiction. Literature seems to offer lessons in human nature that help us decode the world around us and be better friends.

Literature also builds bridges of understanding. Toni Morrison has helped all America understand African-American life. Jhumpa Lahiri illuminated immigrant contradictions. Khaled Hosseini opened windows on Afghanistan.

In short, it makes eminent sense to study coding and statistics today, but also history and literature.

John Adams had it right when he wrote to his wife, Abigail, in 1780: “I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History and Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.”

by mburkert -

Where Are the Women of Color in New Media Art? (Hyperallergic)

The following is an excerpt from an article by Ben Valentine of Hyperallergic, published April 7, 2015:

Not long ago I wrote an article celebrating the work being done by cyberfeminist collective Deep Lab. In a post-Snowden world that’s seen few legal or structural changes since the first leaks, and one that’s filled with male-dominated tech conferences that sound more like advertising than critical discussion, I still consider Deep Lab’s work to be invaluable.

However, after the piece was published, Dorothy Santos — a writer, curator, and friend who’s currently organizing an exhibition on privacy and surveillance and their relationship to gentrification in the Bay Area — wrote to me to express concerns about the lack of women of color (WOC) and queer or trans women of color (QTWOC) artists in Deep Lab. She questioned why I didn’t discuss that lack of representation in my article.

With Santos’s encouragement, I decided it would be valuable to do a follow-up piece and include perspectives from WOC and QTWOC artists and writers regarding Deep Lab, new media and technology-based art, and representation. We emailed a small questionnaire to 20 such women. Seven responded, and their comments are featured below along with Santos’s own answers. We encourage any WOC/QTWOC readers to comment on this article or email to share your perspectives. As Deep Lab continues its work in 2015, with exciting partnerships with the MIT Media Laboratory and NEW INC, we hope these voices will be taken into account.

 

Deep Lab members

Ben Valentine: How do you feel about the overrepresentation of whiteness in media, especially in projects such as Deep Lab, which seeks to nurture radical and marginalized voices?

Dorothy Santos (DS): I feel a strong sense of frustration, but I am resigned to the lack of representation. The second part of the question is tricky: If radical and marginalized voices were meant to be a part of the conversation, why was the group specifically hand-picked? Why not allow women to have a seat at the table and join the conversation? It becomes challenging when WOC and QTWOC are exchanging and sharing knowledge only among themselves — the situation becomes circular. The internet certainly allows for groups to engage in global conversations, but the fact remains that a “congress of cyberfeminist[s]”comprised of predominantly cis white women discussing issues of privacy, surveillance, new media, and digital art at a prestigious university doesn’t exactly help the communities that become the subjects of their discussions. It can be isolating to women in search of this type of (necessary) dialogue.

I acknowledge that everything can’t be covered in a mere week. For the record, the work produced by Deep Lab, from the recordings available on YouTube to the anthology, is invaluable and necessary. It is deeply impactful and influential. Yet I cannot help but perceive this work as being done in an insular manner that presents a highly privileged perspective.

Anonymous #1: It has always appeared that white people are more recognized for these positions, to speak neutrally about social issues to mainstream audiences. And white people are more often granted the power and opportunity and time to work in those places. This has been the norm throughout my education, and it makes predominantly non-white or visible minority groups who work with technology appear less interesting to white audiences, who might not be able to take into account the culturally specific and identity-related needs of marginalized people.

Anuradha Vikram (AV), educator, writer, curator at 18th Street Arts Center: I think projects like Deep Lab reflect the limited access to new technologies and media representation offered to people of color. It’s advantageous for them to reach out to more women of color for inclusion, certainly. Women of color have different and necessary perspectives on questions of surveillance, criminalization, and embodiment that need to be represented. It’s not fair to call them an exclusively white collective, though — they are underrepresented with respect to WOC but not totally unrepresented. Equally problematic is our overemphasis on American technologists when much of the most interesting work in this area is being done in places where technology is transforming economics and culture such as China, India, Brazil.

Anonymous #2: Whatever bias and discrimination that is perpetuated on the internet is purely imposed from the real world.

That being said, when I first discovered Deep Lab, I did not take into account or really notice their whiteness. I see a group of strong females coming together to voice their opinions and push for gender equality.

I only briefly went through the Deep Lab manifesto, but from what I’ve gathered, they address issues that concern people globally, regardless of race and gender. Deep Lab is in an infantile state, so there is much potential for growth for WOC and QTWOC.

Jennifer Chan, “Boyfriend 男友” (2014)

…

Read the entire interview on Hyperallergic here.

 

 

 

by mburkert -

CFP: New Online Pedagogies in Art History

 

Deadline May 8, 2015.

Forum Discussion: New Online Pedagogies for Art History

Anne McClanan, Portland State University; Macie Hall, Johns Hopkins University. Email: anne@pdx.edu and macie.hall@jhu.edu .

This panel showcases emergent strategies and tools for teaching art history online, with short presentations by panelists in order to permit more time for discussion and questions. Our goal is to introduce a variety of innovative approaches as usable takeaways that attendees can adapt to their own teaching practices. While some approaches might be predicated on a fully or partially online learning environment, other case studies might be relevant to a fully face-to-face class that includes online elements. The panel will offer a forum for exchanging ideas, laying the foundation for future collaborative efforts.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to): OERs (Open Educational Resources), Multimedia and Rich Media Projects, LMS: Friend or Foe, Online Exhibition-Making Tools and Other Aspects of Online Maker Culture, and Gamification. Other related proposals are welcome, the above list is meant to broaden, not limit, the range of work we will share.

More details available here: http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/2016CallforParticipation.pdf

**Please note that one must be a CAA member to present a paper at their conference.

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CFP for online journal: Oxford Research in English (ORE) journal

Call for Papers: Networks (Issue 2, Summer 2015). Deadline: April 17, 2015

‘The frontiers of a book are never clear-cut: beyond the title, the first lines, and the last full stop, beyond its internal configuration and its autonomous form, it is caught up in a system of references to other books, other texts, other sentences: it is a node within a network’
–Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge

Oxford Research in English (ORE) is an online journal for postgraduate students in English, Film Studies, Creative Writing, and related disciplines. All submissions are peer-reviewed by current graduate students at the University of Oxford. The journal is currently seeking papers of 5-8,000 words for its second issue, to be released in Summer 2015, which will be exploring the theme of ‘Networks’.

Networks have been a shared focus for literature and history scholars alike: while, in twentieth-century studies, an increased focus on interconnected literary coteries has enhanced our knowledge of a period rich in social and publishing networks, early modern and eighteenth-century scholarship has long been interested in expanding networks of patronage and influence in literary production and dissemination. In postcolonial studies, diasporic networks of authors have provided a way of engaging with the politics of globalization and transnationalism, whilst Victorian literary studies mirror such concerns through their interest in imperial and colonial structures.

New technologies have now brought not only new meanings, but also new tools to uncover networks, as mass digitisation made both texts and criticism more accessible than ever, spurring debates on the dangers and benefits of this new medium, and uncovering new modes of analysis such as topic modelling and other forms of computational criticism.

This issue seeks to explore these different interpretations of networks, and welcomes papers investigating, but not limited to, any of the following themes:

·        Networks of knowledge and cultural networks

·        Influence and patronage

·        Diasporas

·        Text and textuality

·        Fictional representations of networks: groups; clubs; communities; societies.

·        Issues surrounding (or representations of) sociability, belonging, inclusion. Equally, and conversely: isolation, alienation, and exclusion.

·        Literary networks within different mediums: epistolary networks; networks in journalism; networks in the digital age.

·        Networks that span boundaries: cross-cultural networks; international networks; invisible networks; networks across time.

·        Genealogies (both familial and textual)

·        Networking

·        Book production, readership and dissemination

·        Networks and coteries

·        Networks of influence/power

·        Nets, works, and any other interpretations of the theme

Please submit papers for consideration to ore@ell.ox.ac.uk by the deadline of 17/04/15.

Papers should be between 5-8,000 words in length, and should be formatted according to the journal’s house style, details of which can be found on their website:http://english.ohgn.org/journal

by mburkert -

Julie and Rocky Dixon Graduate Student Innovation Award

The Office of the Vice President for Research & Innovation and the Graduate School are pleased to announce the call for nominations for the Julie and Rocky Dixon Graduate Innovation Award.  This fellowship is designed to support up to four doctoral students who are interested in pursuing innovative experiences that will prepare them for careers outside of academia in areas including but not limited to industry, business, and the non-profit and government sectors.  The activities that comprise the experience should help enhance the career possibilities of students and be integral to their professional goals and plans for their doctoral research.  Furthermore, the experience gained during the fellowship would ideally extend beyond the value to the individual student by enriching the student’s academic department, lab, research center or other UO unit by fostering broader connections and engagement of the unit and with our community of agencies, museums, non-profits, companies, national laboratories, etc.
Eligible career development experiences and opportunities should be integrated into the nine-month period of fellowship support and can vary in intensity over the course of the fellowship period. Experiences may include summer 2015 although funding will commence in fall 2015. Eligible activities could include:
  • Internships or cooperative experiences with a company, agency or organization (e.g., non-governmental organization, think-tank, etc.) or public policy initiative or a research organization.  For example, the proposal might involve spending six months as an intern organizing a high profile symposium for a governmental policy initiative, and then spending an additional three months focused on his/her dissertation while also drafting a report and/or grant applications for use by the agency in getting the initiative off the ground.
  • An opportunity to conduct mentored activities in a museum (e.g., curating an exhibition) or archive setting, and then spending time developing the dissemination materials for use by the archive, for a topic matter related to his/her the dissertation research.
  • Applying your academic skill set to develop a business, such as a consulting business or other entrepreneurial venture.  For example, the proposal might entail spending three months being mentored by an entrepreneur in the chosen field, another four months working to develop a business plan, and another two months launching the business, all concurrently with one’s own dissertation research.
The selection committee looks forward to reviewing all kinds of creative ideas that meet the spirit of this new award. Students are responsible for seeking out and arranging these opportunities and developing an individual plan of activities (that should include their doctoral research and may include other departmental obligations) for the fellowship award period.  The host entity must agree to provide evaluation and assessment of the student’s experience and performance.
If you have questions about the eligibility of your activity, contact Brandy Teel, Graduate School Student Engagement and Opportunities Manager, atbota@uoregon.edu or (541) 346-2489.
Award Information
Up to four awards will be made.
In 2015-16, each fellowship carries an award of $14,000. Each fellow will also be appointed as a research GTF (graduate research fellow) by the academic department at .40 FTE or greater for the academic year and will receive, as part of the Dixon Award, his/her GTF tuition waiver, all but $61 of the mandatory fees, and all but 5% of the health insurance premium for fall, winter, and spring terms to support that appointment. The $14,000 may, in full or in part, be used toward specific activities tied to the innovative career development experience or may be put, in full or in part, used toward GTF salary. The department (or research center/institute or school/college) is expected to obtain and provide funding to ensure that the total salary is equal to what that student would receive at the GTF level III, as the award recipient will have been advanced to candidacy by the time the award period commences. This departmental support, and how the $14,000 will be applied, needs to be outlined in the nomination letter as described under “Nomination” below.
As you know, all research GTFs are required to be enrolled full-time (9-16 credits) toward the degree. During the academic year, award recipients will be required to be enrolled in research or internship credits (three or more) commensurate with the time spent on award-supported experience.
In Winter 2016, each award recipient will be expected to participate in the Graduate Student Research Forum. In June 2016, each awardee will be required to submit a one-page report to the Graduate School detailing the innovative career development experience and addressing how this experience helped meet his/her career goals and academic progress, and how this experience was used to enrich either the department or the university.
Eligibility, Nomination Process and Deadline
UO doctoral students in all programs who will be advanced to candidacy by the end of spring term 2015 are eligible to apply.  The selection committee’s decision will be made prior to the end of spring term 2015. The award will be rescinded in the case of an awardee that has not advanced to candidacy by the end of spring 2015.
Application and nomination materials must be submitted by Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Nomination
To be completed and submitted by the academic department:
This award requires two letters of recommendation—one from the student’s advisor and one from the external mentor at the entity providing the experience.
  1. ACADEMIC ADVISOR LETTER: This letter should characterize the student’s academic achievements, address the proposed innovative career development experience, and how associated activities will contribute to the student’s academic progress or career development.  The letter should confirm that the student is expected to be advanced to candidacy no later than spring 2015. The letter should also describe how the advisor will support the applicant’s vision and goals for the career development experience. The letter should also describe the department’s financial support that will be provided to the student and include the signature of the department head or institute/center director as confirmation of the financial support for the award period.
  2. EXTERNAL MENTOR LETTER: This letter should describe how the mentor will support the applicant’s vision and goals for the career development experience and what kind of support and mentorship will be offered to the student during and after the experience.
Letters of recommendation can be uploaded athttps://gradschool.uoregon.edu/dixon-recommendation
Application
To be completed and submitted by the student:
  1. The applicant information webform. Documents described in steps 2-4 should be combined into a PDF file and uploaded via the applicant information form.
  2. An Individualized Development Plan (IDP). More information and templates can be found at https://gradschool.uoregon.edu/faculty/idp
  3. A summary of the innovative experience and address how it complements his/her academic research and goals; and how it will contribute to his/her career development.  Be specific about the arrangement worked out with the sponsoring organization and when this experience will occur, (the kinds of expected activities involved during and after the experience, and how this opportunity enhances the career possibilities for the applicant.  The applicant must describe any related activities in which he/she will be engaging, before and/or after the experience that complement the innovative opportunity.  The strongest applications are those that also address how this experience could benefit and enrich the department or the university through the sharing of expertise and learning gained through the beyond-the-academy experience.  (Do not exceed 1,500 words on no more than three pages.)
  4. A CV or resume.
by mburkert -

In Flux Deux: A Night of Performance Art at the JSMA

Wed, April 22, 2015 – 4:00pm to 8:00pm
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

Join JSMAC (JSMA’s Student Member Advisory Council) and the JSMA for a night of Performance Art! “In Flux Deux” is composed of a diverse collection of performances from University of Oregon students with a special guest performance by art instructor Ty Warren!

Be sure to check out the JMSA events page for more information and updates: http://jsma.uoregon.edu/events/flux-deux-night-performance-art

by mburkert -

Margaret Wiese Graduate Research Award

Up to two awards will be made to support graduate student research (i.e., travel, materials, archival or field research) related to preserving the culture, language and/or artifacts of northwestern Native Americans. These awards have been established through the Margaret J. Wiese Scholarship Endowment Fund.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the Margaret Wiese Graduate Research Award, you must meet the following criteria:

  • Be currently enrolled full-time in a master’s or doctoral degree program;
  • Have an interest in preserving the culture, language, or artifacts of northwestern Native Americans; and
  • Be able to demonstrate financial need through the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships (or International Affairs, in the case of an international student).

 

Application Process and Deadline

Applicants should submit their applications no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. The following application materials must be submitted in PDF form to the Applicant Information Form in the link below:

  1. A completed Applicant Information Form
  2. A one-page proposal. The proposal must include:
    1. A description of the travel plans and use of funds; and
    2. A description of activities or research related to preserving northwestern Native American culture, language, or artifacts.
  3. A statement by the applicant (not to exceed 250 words on no more than one page) addressing his/her financial need in whatever terms the applicant feels are most informative.

Letter of Recommendation

This award requires one letter of recommendation from a faculty member who can speak to the student’s academic record and the value of the proposed use of funds.

Click here to submit a recommendation letter or send the linkhttps://gradschool.uoregon.edu/wiese-recommendation to your recommmender. Letters also must be received by the deadline stated above.

(Note: Only authenticated UO faculty and staff can access the recommendation form. If your recommender is not affiliated with UO, please have them email their letter of recommendation to Brandy Teel at bota@uoregon.edu or 541-346-2489).

Award

All applicants will be notified of the decision during spring term. Up to two awards in the amount of $1000 will be made and disbursed in early fall term.

Contact

Brandy Teel at bota@uoregon.edu or 541-346-2489

Note for Graduate Students with Financial Aid
Receiving this award may reduce your financial aid award.  Please contact the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships prior to applying for this (and any other type of) support.

by mburkert -

Karen, an App That Knows You All Too Well

The following is an excerpt from the New  York Times article “Karen, an App That Knows You All Too Well,” by Frank Rose. Originally published April 2, 2015.

 

LONDON — Thinking about a life coach but not ready to commit to the real thing? App stores offer lots of electronic alternatives that can be downloaded to your iPhone or Android device. There’s Success Wizard, which promises to “help you plan, focus and achieve real and lasting results.” LiveHappy, brim-full of exercises from the California psychologist who wrote “The How of Happiness.” Niggle, for people who want “a pocket sized coaching buddy on call 24/7.” And soon, from the British art group Blast Theory, an entirely different approach: Karen, a mock life-coach app that develops boundary issues and leaves its users feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

Karen is a fictional coach in a software-driven experiential art piece. Part story, part game, designed to be played over a period of days, it offers a deliberately unsettling experience that’s intended to make us question the way we bare ourselves to a digital device.

Unlike most real life-coaching apps, this one displays video rather than text — a tactic that makes it easy to forget the distinction between what’s digital and what’s human. When you open the app, Karen (played by Claire Cage, an actress who has appeared on the British TV series “Coronation Street” and “Being Human”) starts speaking to you directly, asking a series of questions.

She seems winsome and friendly — a little too friendly, perhaps. “She’s only recently out of a long-term relationship,” explained Matt Adams, one of the three members of Blast Theory, “and she has a hunger for a new social alternative.”

The dynamic that unfolds is somewhat reminiscent of “Her,” the 2013 Spike Jonze film in which Joaquin Phoenix’s character falls in love with an operating system. With Karen, however, it’s not the user but the app that starts exhibiting inappropriate behavior. “She develops a kind of friend crush,” Mr. Adams said. “And over the next 10 days or so, she feeds back to you things she’s learning about you — including some things you’re not quite sure how she knows or why.”

One other thing that’s different about Karen: It’s not a movie. It’s a personalized experience that plays out on a smartphone or tablet. There is no fourth wall. There is no Joaquin Phoenix. This story is about you. It morphs to fit the user, based on information the user supplies, choices the user makes and inferences the app itself begins to make. And just as you reveal yourself to Karen, she reveals herself to you, in ways that veer farther and farther from a legitimate life-coach experience.

Beginning April 16, shortly after it’s scheduled to be available for free download on Apple’s app store, Karen will be featured in the Tribeca Film Festival’s Storyscapes competition, which showcases innovative, interactive approaches to storytelling. “I love the idea of a life coach that goes wrong,” said Ingrid Kopp, director of interactive at the Tribeca Film Institute and curator of the competition. “And I thought it would particularly appeal to New Yorkers.”

Ms. Kopp has had her eye on Blast Theory for a while. Based 50 miles outside London in the seaside resort town of Brighton, the group has a reputation for edgy, tech-infused work combining games, video and performance. “We’re interested in the intimacy of mobile phones,” Mr. Adams said. “How they might be thought of as a cultural space. Karen was an opportunity to take this strategy further — how you might engage with a fictional character who is software-driven.”

Claire Cage, who plays Karen in the app. Credit Ruler

But few software characters offer the peculiarly ego-boosting appeal of adapting themselves to the user. This makes Karen an intriguing tool for exploring the knotty relationship between digital personalization and human solipsism. “We know we’re making a satanic bargain” when we rely on personalized devices, Mr. Adams added, “but it’s a rich, murky space, and we’re not entirely sure what we think.”

…

Curious to learn more about Karen and her creators, the British art group Blast Theory? Read the entire NYT article here.

 

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Conference, Call for Applications: THATCamp, in Buffalo, NY. “Emerging Possibilities for Digital Scholarship and Pedagogy.” August 14-­‐15

What is a THATCamp?

THATCamp stands for “The Humanities and Technology Camp.” It is an unconference: an open, inexpensive meeting where humanists and technologists of all skill levels learn and build together in sessions proposed on the spot. An unconference is to a conference what a seminar is to a lecture, what a party at your house is to a church wedding, what a pick-up game of Ultimate Frisbee is to an NBA game, what a jam band is to a symphony orchestra: it’s more informal and more participatory. Here are the key characteristics of a THATCamp:

  • It’s collaborative: there are no spectators at a THATCamp. Everyone participates, including in the task of setting an agenda or program.
  • It’s informal: there are no lengthy proposals, papers, presentations, or product demos. The emphasis is on productive, collegial work or free-form discussion.
  • It’s spontaneous and timely, with the agenda / schedule / program being mostly or entirely created by all the participants during the first session of the first day, rather than weeks or months beforehand by a program committee.
  • It’s productive: participants are encouraged to use session time to create, build, write, hack, and solve problems.
  • It’s lightweight and inexpensive to organize: we generally estimate that a THATCamp takes about 100 hours over the course of six months and about $4000.
  • It’s not-for-profit and either free or inexpensive (under $30) to attend: it’s funded by small sponsorships, donations of space and labor, and by passing the hat around to the participants.
  • It’s small, having anywhere from 25 or 50 to about 150 participants: most THATCamps aim for about 75 participants.
  • It’s non-hierarchical and non-disciplinary and inter-professional: THATCamps welcome graduate students, scholars, librarians, archivists, museum professionals, developers and programmers, K-12 teachers, administrators, managers, and funders as well as people from the non-profit sector, people from the for-profit sector, and interested amateurs. The topic “the humanities and technology” contains multitudes.
  • It’s open and online: participants make sure to share their notes, documents, pictures, and other materials from THATCamp discussions before and after the event on the web and via social media.
  • It’s fun, intellectually engaging, and a little exhausting.

Registration

More information

Contact THATCamp

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New Media & Democracy Conference Schedule Posted

The New Media & Democracy Conference schedule and list of speakers is now posted! Details are below, and more information is available on the conference website: http://nmdc.uoregon.edu/

New Media and Democracy: Global Perspectives

April 9-10, 2015
Knight Law Center 1515 Agate Street

The “New Media and Democracy: Global Perspectives” conference will bring together a diverse set of scholars to investigate the changes in global political discourses and practices brought about by the digital revolution. The event is part of the Wayne Morse Center’s theme of inquiry on Media and Democracy and is free and open to the public.


Keynote: 

Thursday, April 9th (7:00-8:00 pm)

Dr. Sang Jo Jong will give the keynote address titled “South Korea as the World’s Most
Wired Nation: Its Digital Democracy as a Real-Life Case Study?”Dr. Jong is Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law & Technology at Seoul National University. Dr. Jong previously taught comparative IP law at Georgetown Law center and at Duke Law School, and is currently a panel member of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.

 

Conference

Friday, April 10th (9:00-3:45)

Matthew Adeiza (University of Washington), project manager for the Digital Activism Research Project at the University of Washington.

Tarek El-Ariss (University of Texas at Austin), author of Trials of Arab Modernity: Literary Affects and the New Political and editor of the forthcoming MLA anthology, The Arab Renaissance: Literature, Culture, Media. Associate editor, Journal of Arabic Literature.

Camille Crittenden (UC Berkeley), Director Data and Democracy Initiative and the Social Apps Lab, and Deputy Director the Center for Information Research Technology in the Interest of Society (CITRIS).

Sean Jacobs (The New School), co-editor of Thabo Mbeki’s World: The Politics and Ideology of the South African President and Shifting Selves: Post-apartheid essays on Mass Media, Culture and Identity.

Purnima Mankekar (UCLA), author of: Screening Culture, Viewing Politics: An Ethnography of Television, Womanhood, and Nation in Postcolonial India, co-editor of Transnational Erotics: Media and the Production of “Asia” and Caste and Outcast by Dhan Gopal Mukherji.

Leah Lievrouw (UCLA), author of Media and Meaning: Communication Technology in Society (in preparation), Foundations of Media and Communication Theory, and Alternative and Activist New Media.

Aswin Punathambekar (University of Michigan), author of From Bombay to Bollywood: The Making of a Global Media Industry and co-editor of Global Bollywood and Television at Large in South Asia.

Margaret Rhee (UCLA), author of How We Became Human: Race, the Robots, and the Asian American Body (manuscript in preparation), co-editor of “Hacking the (Black/White) Binary”, a Special Issue of Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology (forthcoming), and co-founder of “From the Center.”

Joe Straubhaar (University of Texas at Austin), author of The Persistence of Inequity in the Technopolis: Race, Class and the Digital Divide in Austin, Texas and co-author of World Television from Global to Local and Television In Latin America.

 

Organizers: UO faculty member Biswarup Sen (SOJC) and doctoral students Patrick Jones and Laura Strait

Cosponsors: Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, CAPS, School of Journalism and Communication, Office of Academic Affairs, Office of International Affairs Global Studies Institute, New Media and Culture Certificate Program, Oregon Humanities Center, Agora Journalism Center, International Studies Department, Department of Comparative Literature,The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, Department of History

Schedule: 

New Media and Democracy: Global Perspectives Conference
April 9th and 10th | Room 110 – Knight Law Center

Thursday, April 9th

Keynote Address 7-8 PM
Dr. Sang Jo Jong, “South Korea as the World’s Most Wired Nation: Its Digital Democracy as a Real-Life Case Study?”

Reception 8-9 PM (Wayne Morse Commons, Knight Law Center)

Friday, April 10th

Introduction and Opening Remarks 9-9:15
Biswarup Sen, University of Oregon
Doug Blandy, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Oregon

Session 1: 9:15-11:00
Informational Politics
Moderator: Dan HoSang, Associate Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, University of Oregon

Panelists:
Leah Lievrouw,UCLA, “Alternative and Activist New Media, v. 3.0”
Camille Crittenden, UC Berkeley, “Data and Democracy: How New Digital Tools Enhance and Endanger Representational Politics”
Margaret Rhee, UCLA, Short-circuiting Citizenship: Feminist Movement Building in our Digital Age

Session 2: 11:15-1.00
Identities, Subjects, Publics
Moderator: Carol Stabile, University of Oregon

Panelists:
Purnima Mankekar, UCLA, “The Recursive Public Sphere, ‘New Media,’ and Cinema in the New India”
Tarek El-Ariss, University of Texas at Austin, “The Leaking Subject”
Sean Jacobs, The New School, “Making Sense of African Political Identities Online”

Lunch Break (Wayne Morse Commons, Knight Law Center) 1-2PM

Session 3: 2-3:45 pm
Digital Democracy: Local Iterations
Moderator: Daniel Rosenberg, Professor of History and Faculty at the Robert D. Clark Honors College

Panelists:
Matthew Adeiza, University of Washington, “Text Me Maybe: Digital Media, Elections, and Stomach Infrastructure in Nigeria”
Joe Straubhaar, University of Texas at Austin, “Technological Junctions, Networks and Entry Points: Four Key Moments in Social Movements and Democracy in Brazil”
Aswin Punathambekar, University of Michigan, “Politics After Youtube: Satire and Democratic Politics in Digital India”

More information: http://nmdc.uoregon.edu/