Hello to all pals at AoIR! In the interest of fostering meets with like-minded souls in Sussex, I wanted to stop by the list and make some announcements. On October 29, I'll be defending my dissertation, entitled, "Camgirls: Webcams, LiveJournals and the Personal as Political in the Age of the Global Brand." The study, which combines auto-ethnography (I had a webcam in my own home for a year ) and postcolonial feminist critique, will be published in 2005 by Peter Lang as part of their terrific Digital Formations series. The five chapter titles are as follows Chapter One: The personal as political in the age of the global brand Chapter Two: I'd rather be a camgirl than a cyborg Chapter Three: From telepresence to tele-ethicality Chapter Four: The public, the private and the pornographic Chapter Six: From "sisters" to sisters AoIRers who would like to look over the document in its entirety (it still needs a final copy edit) can go here: http://www.echonyc.com/~janedoe/diss/camgirls.aoir.pdf This is a password protected document which can be opened with the password "camgirls". I've also assembled a ten page chapter-by-chapter synopsis, so that you can pick and choose the material in the dissertation that best dialogues with your own research interests. The synopsis is at http://www.echonyc.com/~janedoe/diss/synopsis.htm Finally, those looking for video material for their classes might be interested in a forthcoming documentary entitled WEBCAM GIRLS, shot by Canadian director Aerlyn Weissman. Although I haven't seen the doc yet (and I'm in it!), I understand from AoIR'er Mary Bryson (who saw a preview in Canada) that the film is quite good. Feel free to drop a line if you are interested in that, and I'll get you in touch with the distributors. Okay, that's more than enough about me and I promise not to do that again. Like many of you, I'll be in Sussex, and am hoping to meet as many new folks as possible. If you have work that dialogues with mine--or if you even think it might--free to drop a line at terri.senft@nyu.edu and I'll buy the first beer in Sussex. If you aren't going to the conference, you can of course feel free to drop a line as well, and I'll take care of that beer some other time. Best, Terri Theresa M. Senft Auxiliary Adviser, Gallatin School of Individualized Study Adjunct Assistant Professor , Interactive Telecommunications Program New York University, 719 Broadway, Room 531 (212) 998-7333 terri.senft@nyu.edu