The Academy in Peril
From LaurasWiki
Opening session at Social Software in the Academy (http://www.socialtext.net/soso-acad/index.cgi), USC Annenberg School For Communication, May 13-16, 2005 (SocialText archive)
A Conversation on Social Software and Traditional Scholarly Communication
| Table of contents |
The Academy in Peril?
Sebastian Paquet, National Research Council of Canada
Laura Trippi, Simon Frasier University
Moderated by danah boyd
Note: Title borrowed from John Cale, The Academy in Peril (http://www.xs4all.nl/~werksman/cale/disc/academy_in_peril.html) (1972)
The Big Picture / The Long View (Laura)
- The accelerating pace of change
- The Future of [x (http://valiant.iat.sfu.ca/Courses/ElectronicCulture2004/Module3/week2/)]
- The Long Now (http://www.longnow.org/about/longnowdiagram.htm)
- Technolgical drivers and unintended effects
- Moore's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law)
- System-wide effects: ***The Planet Under Pressure (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3686106.stm)
- The Planet Under Pressure: diagram (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/sci_nat_enl_1096888217/html/1.stm)
- Approaching a threshold
- Hillis on the coming threshold (http://valiant.iat.sfu.ca/Courses/ElectronicCulture2004/Module3/)
- Culture as a complex system
- Characteristics of Complex Systems (http://necsi.org/projects/mclemens/cs_char.gif) (NECSI New England Complex Systems Institute)
- dn/a: intelligent life (http://cyberatlas.guggenheim.org/home/index.html): culture as a complex system
- ILife schematic (http://valiant.iat.sfu.ca/Courses/ElectronicCulture2004/Module3/week2/ILifeSchematic.png/view)
- The role of the academy in cultural evolution
- Preserves diversity, range, and depth of historical knowledges and knowledge-related practices
- Fosters the emergence of new knowledge and knowledge domains outside the constraints and mandates of commerce, government, and religion)
- Context for the process of open inquiry ("open development model) -- intellectual freedom and the scientific method
- Status of the academy today? we'll discuss in this panel
- The function of social software
- Context: Emergent network of distributed knowledge:
- Fosters and supports human-centered innovation precisely at the intersection of technology and culture/cognition
Social Software in/with/for the Academy (Seb)
Social Software in/with/for the Academy (Seb) (http://wiki.netvironments.org/index.php/SSAW_Panel_Seb)
In the Trenches (and the cracks) of the Academy (Laura)
Academic faculty practice: 3 application areas (research, teaching, service)
My particular context:
- New school of Interactive Arts and Technology
- Provide cultural studies track
- Practical backdrop:
- Developing models of "blended learning"
- Working w/against proprietary CMS
Notes from the field (http://www.netvironments.org/laurazWiki/SocialSoftwareInAcademyNotes)
- For research
- For teaching and course development
- ECulture Course (http://valiant.iat.sfu.ca/Courses/ElectronicCulture2004) : OSS course platform w/student wikis, weblogs, and IRC office hours
- Class wikis
- Class weblog network
- Lesia Hickey: IRC Network Diagram (http://valiant.iat.sfu.ca/eculture/lhickey/000442.html)
- Student response: IRCOfficeHours (http://www.netvironments.org/laurazWiki/IRCOfficeHours)
- Admin response: Unregulated Servers in SIAT Instruction
- ECulture Course (http://valiant.iat.sfu.ca/Courses/ElectronicCulture2004) : OSS course platform w/student wikis, weblogs, and IRC office hours
- For planning and admin
- SIAT visioning / planning platform (http://tonka.iat.sfu.ca/prevox/)
- » At the School of Interactive Arts & Tecnology: no UG major that actually integrates art & tech...
- The academy in peril:
- Potetial that social software can preserve/restore the academy as a space of open inquiry
- Sense that instead, open inquiry is migrating out of the academy
- * R. Tagore Plaque (http://www.netvironments.org/laurazWiki/TagoreQuote)
Social Software and the Spirit of the Academy (discussion)
- The Spirit of the Academy: Its values and noble goals, its assets, what to preserve
- The Cultures of Open Source and Social Software
- The Academy Today
Topics to consider:
- The Role and Function of Curiosity
- The Place and Nature of "Applied Research" (double-edged sword)
- Collaboration and Interdisciplinarity (modes and effects)
- Amateurism vs. Mastery and Expertise (in relation to learning, knowledge generation, change)
- Credit/recognition/IP

