February 2011 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

How to run successful webinars? Presentation on Tue 16 Nov 2010
by Fred Dervin 23 May '11

23 May '11

The 2010 Global Education Conference is being held November 15 - 19, 2010, online and free. Sessions will take place in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days. http://www.globaleducationconference.com/ TITLE: How to run successful webinars? Lessons learnt and challenges for learning and collaboration at a global level. PRESENTER: Fred Dervin,, University of Turku, Finland (Finland) CO-PRESENTER: Katerina Zourou, University of Luxembourg TIME: GMT Tue 16 Nov 2010 01:00PM click for international time conversions: http://timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=11&day=16&year=2010&… SESSION ROOM: https://sas.elluminate.com/d.jnlp?sid=gec2010&password=D.616E7D3800C4CE47B7… to enter the Elluminate session room, open one hour before session. FORMAT: Presentation LANGUAGE: English SHORT DESCRIPTION: Although the number of webinars (i.e. events streamed live over the Internet) is rapidly growing, the orchestration of such events in terms of communication, modes of delivery, opportunities for interaction and follow-up is in its infancy. Moreover, gathering a worldwide audience challenges our understanding of how to address a large number of multicultural participants. The presentation is based on findings from two public webinars, hosted by the University of Turku (Finland) and the University of Luxembourg in 2010. An examination of the events will allow us to identify 5 success factors and a set of quality indicators. Shortcomings in running webinars will also be discussed based on our experience. The presentation ends with some reflections on the nature of interaction in live online events, namely the chat function as a means of learning and group cohesion among online participants, and as a catalyst for interaction between the group and the panelists.

1 1

AoIR 2011 panel on African Americans and the Internet
by Florini, Sarah Lynn 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

Hi, All. Im putting together a panel on African Americans and the Internet for AoIR 12. If you are interested, please drop me an email, and Ill send you the details. Best, Sarah Florini PhD Candidate Communication and Culture 800 E. Third St. Bloomington, IN 47405 Indiana University sflorini(a)indiana.edu

2 1

Job Announcement - Colorado College
by CJ Pascoe 11 Mar '11

11 Mar '11

Hi all, My fabulous college is looking to hire an Assistant Professor of new media whose research addresses the theory and practice media, digital culture and technology. I've posted the job ad below. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. Regards, CJ ___________________________________________ C.J. Pascoe Assistant Professor Department of Sociology Colorado College 719-389-6735 http://faculty1.coloradocollege.edu/~cpascoe Colorado College invites applications for an Assistant Professor of New Media (tenure-track) from candidates across the liberal arts whose research addresses the theory and practice of media, digital culture, and technology. An ideal candidate will examine the interplay between society, technology, and art within a broad historical framework. Candidates should also focus on the impact of media and technology on ways of thinking, the production of subjectivity, and the interaction of community and aesthetics. The Assistant Professor of New Media will be housed in the recently- constructed interdisciplinary Cornerstone Arts Center. Given the primacy of the arts in the Cornerstone, it is important for candidates to demonstrate facility with current artistic theory and practice. As part of their professional responsibilities, candidates will be expected to actively promote the use of Cornerstone’s facilities, which include smart classrooms, digital computing labs, and publicly accessible, multi-purpose spaces designed to cultivate connections among artistic and critical practices. This task includes helping to develop an all-college program in Media Studies. Candidates should understand the demands particular to pedagogy in the liberal arts and the college’s commitment to critical thinking and writing across the disciplines. Although the position will emphasize theoretical approaches to the study of media, candidates with teaching experience in a creative field related to their area of research are encouraged to apply. Ph.D. required. For full consideration, applications and complete dossiers (curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, graduate transcripts, and teaching philosophy) should be submitted by January 15, 2011 to: Prof. Tom Lindblade Chair, Hiring Committee: Assistant Professor of New Media Colorado College 14 E. Cache la Poudre Colorado Springs CO 80903 Colorado College is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to increasing the diversity of the college community. Candidates who can contribute to that goal are particularly encouraged to apply and to identify the ways in which they would bring diversity to our community. Spousal split candidacies will be considered. Colorado College welcomes members of all minority groups and reaffirms its commitment not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability in its educational programs, activities, and employment practices.

2 1

Deadline for IR 12.0 Submissions
by loriken＠illinois.edu 02 Mar '11

02 Mar '11

Just a quick reminder that abstracts for IR 12.0 are due March 1. Lori

4 4

Blogpost: Egypt: From the Iron Rule of Tyranny to the Iron Law of Oligarchy: Can ICT Change the Rules?
by Michael Gurstein 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

This may be of interest... M http://wp.me/pJQl5-5Z "In this, I think that the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia have access to skills and resources which were unavailable to earlier movements that is-the Internet, social networking, mobile telephony and perhaps most important, the experience and knowledge of how to use these in support of collective social ends."

1 0

Re: [Air-L] The Meaning of Play
by Tuszynski, Stephanie 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

Ren - this is interesting since I don't think of "play" as something that applies only to gaming and your definition is very deeply rooted in that form and only that form. I've seen a lot of female fans engage in play, both with identity and with creative activities, that have very little to do with any of this. No rules, no boundaries, no object. I would still consider it playing but it's far removed from the idea of a game with rules and an object. Interesting. Dr. Stephanie Tuszynski Assistant Professor of Communication Bethany College Message: 6 Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:04:58 +0000 From: Ren Reynolds <ren(a)aldermangroup.com> To: list aoir <air-l(a)aoir.org> Subject: [Air-L] The Meaning of Play Message-ID: <735A8F73-97A5-4ECC-A1EB-5FD2EAA0B857(a)aldermangroup.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii All, & with apologies to games scholars and twitter followers for cross posting & general apologies for shameless self promotion... I've been thinking about what play is for some time, I've now blogged these thoughts at a little length (3k+ words) over at TerraNova: http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2011/02/the-meaning-of-play.html As I note there, I did this for a general reason: existing definitions did not satisfy me; and for a specific reason: I'm looking at the governance of online play by researching the history of sports law and governance and needed a theory that explained what is going on when law does not intervene in contact sports, even when there is injury. So this is a very general definition which I hope is useful in any field where one is looking at what play is, I'm interested in comments to help de-bug it: Play is the recognised, negotiated, process of a purposeful shift in the dominant meaning; and contextual attribution of value, of acts. Games are normative forms of play. ludic-meaning - the meaning that has been shifted or attributed ludic-semiotics - the system of the signs product through play ludic-capital - the degree to which these ludic-meaning and semiotics are operational in a given context e.g. when set against institutional-capital. Magic circle - the term we use to denote the bounds of the context wherein the ludic-meaning of an act prevails over the co-existing non-ludic meaning (or lack thereof). Ren --8<-- web: www.renreynolds.com Think Tank: www.virtualpolicy.net blog: terranova.blogs.com This message may contain confidential information for the use of the addressee(s) above and may contain legally privileged information. If you are not the addressee, or the person responsible for delivering it to the addressee, you are hereby notified that reading, disseminating, distributing or copying this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message by mistake, immediately notify us by replying to the message and delete the original message immediately. Thank you.

3 2

Seek resources about digital media development in China in the last 10 years
by jellicle Ye 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

Dear staff, I want to ask a question about " resources and critical ideas about digital media development in China in the last 10 years" Thank you very much. O(∩_∩)O best regards and best wishes -- Ke Ye (Jellicle) The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China School of International Communications

4 3

WMF looking for summer interns
by Andrea Forte 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

Hi all, reminder for students: the deadline for WMF community department summer internships is March 7. They are looking for both qualitative and quantitative analytical skills, see job descriptions below. :) -- :: Andrea Forte :: Assistant Professor :: College of Information Science and Technology, Drexel University :: http://www.andreaforte.net _____________ I. Wikimedia Foundation / Community Department Summer Fellowship (Quantitative Research) The Wikimedia Foundation is developing a community analytics platform to gain a better understanding of its contributors and readers. This platform is used both for answering ad-hoc questions and identifying long-term trends. We are seeking a small team of paid Summer fellows to help bring this platform to life on a scalable platform, create many new data sets to aid research, and begin to make the system available to the entire Wikimedia and academic communities. WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR: You love data and you are a great story teller. You enjoy working with large datasets and applying state of the art algorithms. But data is not just numbers, it's telling a story and you have a knack for discovering the most important story hidden in the data. You share the values of the Wikipedia projects and the Wikimedia Foundation. CANDIDATE CHARACTERISTICS: * Currently pursing a PhD in statistics, computer science, mathematics, economics, biostatistics, physics, operations research or another discipline involving large scale data analysis. * Experience with statistical data analysis such as linear models, multivariate analysis, stochastic models, and sampling methods. * Excellent implementation skills in Python and at least one other language (Java, PHP). * Experience with Django is a big plus. * Experience with NOSQL solutions (Hadoop/HBase/Hive or Mongo) or eager to learn. * Knowledge of UNIX/Linux or Windows environments and APIs. * Familiarity with TCP/IP and network programming a plus. * Being an editor of Wikipedia is a big plus. * Self-starter: Able to mobilize the resources you need to get things done, including yourself. COMPENSATION: $3,200 per month + housing provided or housing stipend. TIME COMMITMENT: Full time employment for as much of the Summer as you’re available. HOW TO APPLY: Please send the following materials to bjones(a)wikimedia.org with “Summer Fellowship” in the subject line: a. A thoughtful cover letter explaining your interest in this fellowship. b. A brief description of your dissertation project and your interest in linking your research to support the foundation’s mission. c. An academic article you have written (published or unpublished) that shows your writing skills. d. A pointer to your website or other online presence (if available). II. Wikimedia Foundation / Community Department Summer Research Fellowship (Qualitative) Be a part of an exciting Summer of research at the Wikimedia Foundation. Our task: to understand better why the active editor base is not replenishing itself at the same rate it used to -- and to present data that can help our communities figure out what to do about it. We are looking for PhD candidates or people who have completed Masters degrees in history, other humanities fields, anthropology and other social sciences. Over the Summer, we will be working on several interdependent quantitative and qualitative research projects, as well as developing new research tools. One or two longer-term fellowships are also available. This is a paid fellowship based in San Francisco. For an exceptional candidate, and exception can be made to work remotely after a two week orientation in San Francsico. WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR: You love taking a microscope to social phenomena to figure out what is really going on at the level of individuals' personal, daily, experience. You are a systems thinker who can think about interactions between many variables and hypotheses at the same time. You love both quantitative data and textual archives. You are a great story teller. You have a knack for discovering the most important story hidden in the data. CANDIDATE SKILLS/CHARACTERISTICS * Believes in the value of Wikimedia. Exudes enthusiasm for the mission and can powerfully embody and communicate it. * Intellectual curiosity and flexibility. Enjoys tackling difficult, ambiguous problems and able to incorporate new knowledge into how one approaches situations and generates solutions; loves learning from others and expanding intellectual horizons * Open and transparent: Comfortable working in a highly transparent fashion, open to input and feedback, proactive candid communicator who wants people to know what she/he is doing and isn't afraid to bring others in when things are off-track or when you need help * Action-oriented: Focuses on generating research results that are high quality and support real-world decision-making and action in a timely fashion; able to problem solve around imperfect data and make appropriate methodological judgment * Strong cultural competency: Ability to bridge cultures and geographic differences; able to navigate in a truly global movement, and understands the values in diverse communities and worldviews * Self-starter: Able to mobilize the resources you need to get things done, including yourself. QUALIFICATIONS * Masters degree, PhD candidate or PhD in relevent field such as history, sociology, anthropology. Researching Wikimedia communities requires a mix of skills unusual for any academic discipline, so we're not picky about which discipline you come from. * Experience wrestling with historical, sociological or anthropological questions pertaining to the success, growth and survival of communities, social movements and large scale collaborative work. * Experience wading through dense and complex historical archives or other textual social data. * Wikimedians are strongly encouraged to apply! COMPENSATION: $3,200 per month + housing stipend. TIME COMMITMENT: Full time employment for as much of the Summer as you’re available. HOW TO APPLY: Please send the following materials to bjones(a)wikimedia.org with “Summer Fellowship” in the subject line: a. A thoughtful cover letter explaining your interest in this fellowship. b. A brief description of your Masters degree or dissertation project and your interest in linking your research to support the foundation’s mission. c. An academic article you have written (published or unpublished) that shows your writing skills. d. A pointer to your website or other online presence (if available).

1 0

SCENARIOS FOR THE EUROPEAN CITY OF THE 3rd MILLENNIUM - Call for Position Papers
by Maurizio 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

Dear All, I remind you the My Ideal City conference, there are still two week for the submission of abstracts. Best M. --- My Ideal City, an European Project SCENARIOS FOR THE EUROPEAN CITY OF THE 3rd MILLENNIUM Venice, May 12th and 13th Call for Position Papers The My Ideal City project has been funded by the European Union to deal with the representation in an immersive, virtual, environment of the results of participatory processes involving the citizens of four cities (Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Lisbon, and Trento). Therefore, the project involved since the beginning a mixture of reflections on three dimensional representation, participation, and urban planning, in a period of time characterized by the contested and controversial meaning of the city as the central space for innovating the ways human beings live. The My Ideal City Conference looks for contributions that will foster the debate on how it is possible to give shape to the new, ideal, city, in order to represent it in innovative ways, stimulating new concepts of the city itself, and to enlarge the participation of citizens in the construction of the city. Topics for the conference 1. The Ideal City and the participatory process In the 21st century, the debate on how the construction of the city should take place highlights a number of opposing pairs: private vs. public, individual vs. collective, ideal vs. real, city vs. country. The conflict inherent in this dichotomies is presented on the contemporary scene as a matter of concern not to be mitigated, but as data on which to build new combinations, new forms of living and providing for projection towards a future that is often forgotten or erased from the bodies of today. The acronym M.I.C. (My Ideal City) symbolizes that clearly: it points to emerging questions to which many academic disciplines, like anthropology, architecture, engineering, geography, sociology, urban planning, and more, are responding through theoretical and empirical tools for understanding, for designing, and for constructing the new city. In particular, the acronym redirect to three main topics of reflection, and their combination: [My] The individual, freed from the standardization of the modern movement, draws daily new realities, asserting his/her own micro-politics of desire. The self-affirmation of the individual on the ground takes place on one side on the basis of a daily transformation denouncing a lack of long-distance gaze on things, with the crushing of the collective that seems to have erased the projective capacity of the desired; on the other side, the ecological, territorial, economic, and symbolic crisis of the city as a system calls for a new awareness and a shared planning that goes beyond simply individualism. Therefore, [My] represents the tension between the individual actions and practices, and the possibility to work out new possibilities for collective actions and practices. [Ideal] Ideal and real can be conceived as split, dichotomous terms, that act on different levels: the first seems to assume a negative meaning, based on its proximity to the concept of utopia, while the second holds a position so strong to become objective and preventing a critical look, design, and practices. Nevertheless, it is exactly the presence of an ideal understanding of contemporary cities, their representation through a discursive regime done of possibilities and opportunities, that makes possible to act on, change, and reassemble, the perspectives of urban development. [City] The city as a place of living and sharing, back to the centre of attention, calls for a review of methods and tools that manage its transformation. Decision makers, political movements, and common citizens, newly talk about participation to reduce the distance between the individual and the collective and between the ideal and the real, criticizing and dismissing forms of design aimed at accommodating superimposed, hetero-normative, meanings of living together in a contemporary city. Therefore, we welcome contributions that deal with the following, and not exhaustive, list of topics: - Individual desires and collective actions in the urban landscape - New forms of collective practices in the city - The role of idealized discourses in projecting the future of cities - Participation as a mean to collective action and utopian transformations 2. The construction of a new urban imagery: models, techniques, stereotypes The experience of building the MIC?s worlds allowed to deal with two major areas of widespread intrusive visual stereotypes, the image of the future city and the virtual environments browsable online. In both cases, the consolidation of visual clich?s seem not only the result of a normal consumption of imagery but the consequence of an action practiced by the colonizers of the physical and virtual spaces: the spread of clich?s is a preliminary step to the acquisition of consensus and ownership. The need for authenticity - of actuality in virtuality - has resulted in two basic choices, first in reference to a paradoxical and systematic 'stage' metaphor rather than a 'realistic' one, so that eventually we get an actual experience of a fiction rather a fictive experience of actuality, the other in the production of fiction obtained as a light footprint, scan, direct ?quotation? of the urban landscape. In our scenes was taken off the 'skin' of daily lighting, the usual colours and light hiding instead of showing the true appearance of the city. These issues may be briefly summarized in the figure that holds the two ends of the vision, namely the shape of the eyes and the substance of the picture. The thesis that elaborates these themes is that only an eccentric sight can reveal the depth, the thickness of inexhaustible visual material. Abnormal viewpoints, slowed and accelerated movements, unusual conditions allow to penetrate an invisible crust of visual stereotypes. Referring to this thesis we suggest a range of issues: - Figures and metaphors in the formation of urban imagery in architecture, cinema, visual arts, theater, TV production and videogames - Genesis and spread of urban stereotypes - ?Naive? maps of urban landscape: a comparison between popular and cultured formae urbis - Descriptive models and narrative models of urban form - Avatar?s promenade. Identity and identification in virtual bodies 3. Toward an energy efficient city A sustainable city is a city designed with care of its environmental dimension. It is peopled by citizens that have the objective to minimize their needs in terms of energy, materials, water and food and to minimize the emissions resulting from their lives. Among the many aspects that describe the concept of sustainability, the topic of energy has a particular importance for the important environmental, economic and political consequences on the future development of our world. Therefore, the ideal city explored by the MIC research has a particular awareness of the importance of energy conservation. The call aims at the collection of different contributions, that describe the multitude of combinations between the city and its energy requirements. This is not limited to the various technologies that can be adopted to create a self-sufficient city, but it involves the whole process of urban spaces and the lifestyle of its inhabitants, its narrative, its design, and its construction. The call seeks therefore to obtain contributions on the different topics, ranging from the energy efficiency applied to the planning sectors (transport, urban morphology), buildings, management of the city, new technologies, sustainable life-styles, social aspects of energy consumption, etc. On the other hand it has to be acknowledged that the energy efficiency of the built environment takes also into account the energy required for the production of the building materials and for the construction of all the final products, including the buildings and the city infrastructures. Therefore, an energy efficient city should take into account the energy effectiveness of its parts through their entire lifecycle and not just during their phase of use. Topics addressed: - Lifecycle Energy efficiency of buildings - Sustainable transport - Lifecycle Energy efficiency of the city services (public transportation, administration, etc.) - Resource management and disposal - Future solutions toward more sustainable cities PROGRAMME May 12th presentation of the results of European research MIC and lectio magistralis No.1 May 13th sessions of debate, deriving from the IUAV researches and the call for abstracts, in the form of three plenary sessions: The Ideal City and the participatory process; The construction of a new urban imagery: models, techniques, stereotypes; Towards an energy efficient city and lectio magistralis No.2. PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFERENCE Contributions should contain the following elements: name(s) of author(s), title of abstract, affiliation, e-mail contact information, thematic session of reference, key words (in number of three), abstract (a maximum number of 1.500 characters including spaces, approximately 400 words). The abstract should be written in English. Abstracts must be received by March 15th 2011 for prior approval to the following address: conference(a)myidealcity.eu. The scientific committee of the MIC will inform interested parties of accepting the proposals by March 31th 2011. The scientific committee split the selection into two categories: one dealing with speakers who will participate in sessions of debate and whose contribution in the form of paper will be published in the proceedings of the conference, the second on the papers that will be only published in conference proceedings. The authors of the accepted abstracts will be asked to submit a position paper (2.000 words, 8.000 characters including spaces, with a maximum of five images) to be included in the proceedings to be published in the IUAV Digital Library. The position papers should be sent by May 1th to conference(a)myidealcity.eu and formatted according to the format that will be sent to selected authors. A complete programme will be showed at www.myidealcity.eu/conference. No registration fee are requested thanks to European funds of Seventh Framework Programme.

1 0

Masters Digital Culture and Society, King's College London: Scholarship 2011-2012
by Jordan, Tim 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

In case anyone knows a talented student! Feel free to pass it round. Tim Arts & Humanities Innovation Scholarship 2011-12 Digital Culture and Society The School of Arts and Humanities is committed to supporting innovation and rewarding excellence. To celebrate the creation of a series of unique interdisciplinary programmes which combine cutting-edge expertise with fresh intellectual perspectives, the School has created a scholarship for each of its new programmes launched for 2011-12. As a result, we are pleased to offer 1 scholarship to the value of £6,000 to a student studying on the MA Digital Culture & Society (formerly Digital Culture & Technology) in 2011-12. The award is tenable for one year only and cannot be deferred. The award is open to students of any nationality. All admissions applications supported by 2 academic references and undergraduate transcript via https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/ submitted before 17:00GMT on 15 June 2011 will automatically be considered for this scholarship. Am I eligible? You are eligible for the award if: * you have submitted an admissions application supported by 2 academic references and undergraduate transcript via https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/ before 17:00GMT on 15 June 2011 to MA Digital Culture & Society (formerly Digital Culture & Technology). * you are planning to commence the postgraduate taught masters degree in Digital Culture & Society (formerly Digital Culture & Technology) at King’s College London for the 2011/12 academic session; * you are expected to meet the College’s usual requirements regarding language proficiency and the quality of the first degree (namely a minimum of a 2:1 – upper second class – degree) * you will not be in receipt of an AHRC scholarship concurrently How do I apply? Submit an admissions application supported by 2 academic references and undergraduate transcript via https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/ before 17:00GMT on 15 June 2011 to MA Digital Culture & Society (formerly Digital Culture & Technology). Enquiries Admissions Tutors: Frederik.lesage(a)kcl.ac.uk and Timothy.Jordan(a)kcl.ac.uk Education Projects Officer: Sarah Hayward (sarah.hayward(a)kcl.ac.uk) -- Dr Tim Jordan Culture, Media and Creative Industries Centre for Computing in the Humanities Creative Arts Administrative Centre Room 5D, D Floor, Chesham Building King's College London Strand London WC2R 2LS UK Phone: +44 (0)20 7848 1100

1 0