Monday, July 30, 2007

celebration

last night sarah and i returned from a mini-family reunion in minneapolis. today we finished packing our belongings. tomorrow we move.

the trip to minnesota was wonderful. sarah's whole family including her uncle jack and aunt liz were there. we celebrated sarah's sister jewlee's birthday. we celebrated don and jini's, sarah's parents, forty-fourth anniversary. and we celebrated our announcement that we're getting married.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

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CFP: joystick soldiers: the military/war video game reader

this looks interesting - contact editors (email below) for more information. [via cultstud-l]

CFP: Joystick Soldiers: The military/war video game reader

Edited by Nina B. Huntemann and Matthew Thomas Payne

The editors seek essays on military/war-themed video games which explore the multifaceted cultural, social, and economic linkages between video games and the military. The collection will feature scholarly work from a diversity of theoretical and methodological perspectives, including: close textual readings of military-themed video games; critical histories of game production processes and marketing practices; and reception studies of video war gamers, fandom, and politically resistant game interventions. As there is no other collection of its kind, Joystick Soldiers will make a significant contribution to the breadth of work shaping the burgeoning field of game studies, complementing analyses concerning the Military-Entertainment Complex, and offering diverse insights on how modern warfare has been represented and remediated in contemporary video games. The editors invite junior as well as established scholars to submit, and welcome cross-disciplinary work from sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, history, military studies, psychology, economics, media studies, visual communication, graphic arts and game design, education, and so forth.

We are looking for submissions that address a wide range of topics from diverse methodological approaches, including but not limited to:

--Use of games for training, recruitment, propaganda (serious games)
--Video games and military ideology (or Military-Entertainment Complex)
--Representing / playing soldiers, terrorists, & civilians
--Global reception of America's Army and other "pro-US" war games
--Production of war video games
--War video games across genres (e.g., FPS, RTS, RPG)
--Playing war video games of past & near-future conflicts
--War game mods and other user-generated content
--Machinima as social commentary on war (e.g., Red vs. Blue)
--Games and resistance (non-combat games, in-game protests, diplomacy as alternative to force)
--Game for peace
--Networked war games in different spaces (LAN parties, on-line, mobile).
--War games and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

We are interested in defining "military/war" video games widely, but not so widely as to be useless for critical analysis. The following is a partial list of war video games we hope to include, but submissions for scholarly work about other games are welcome, for example games based on past wars (Battlefield 1942; Call of Duty, etc) and non-US based games.

--Marine Doom
--Counter-Strike & its mods
--America's Army & America's Army: Rise of a Soldier
--Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
--Close Combat: First to Fight
--Conflict: Desert Storm II - Back to Baghdad
--FA-18 Operation Desert Storm
--Freedom Fighters
--Full Spectrum Warrior & Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers
--Kuma War
--Ghost Recon 3: Advanced Warfighter
--Operation Flashpoint: Resistance
--Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield
--Sniper Elite
--SOCOM
--Under Siege, Under Ash, and Special Force

Please submit a 500 word abstract and short bio (100 words max) by September 17, 2007 in Rich Text Format (RTF) to Nina Huntemann and Matthew Payne at joysticksoldiers@gmail.com. We expect final papers will not exceed 5000-7000 words and will be due December 10, 2007. Feel free to repost this CFP on relevant lists. Please contact us if you have questions about potential essays or the book project in general.

Monday, July 23, 2007

the september project 2007

the web site for the september project has been launched!

what is the september project?

The September Project is a grassroots effort to foster public events in all libraries in all countries in September. September Project events can include book displays, panel discussions, civic deliberations, film screenings, theatrical performances, community book readings, and kids’ art projects. September Project events are free and organized locally.

The September Project encourages libraries and communities to come together in meaningful ways throughout the month of September.

if you know a librarian, please let her or him know about the september project. if you are not a librarian, please consider organizing an event in your library.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

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tenure track job in communication studies at usf

last week, i blogged about a tenure track job in media studies at USF. here is another tenure track job - in the department of communication studies - at USF. for more information, contact marilyn delaure, the chair of the search committee.

University of San Francisco
Department of Communication Studies
Interpersonal Communication (tenure-track):


The Department of Communication Studies at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Interpersonal Communication to begin in Fall 2008.

Teaching responsibilities will include the introductory course "Communication and Everyday Life" (a theory-based introduction to interpersonal communication) and additional upper level courses in the candidate’s areas of expertise, such as, Interpersonal Communication, Communication and Technology, Organizational Communication, Communication and Aging, Communication and Culture, Language and Social Interaction, Discourse and Power, and Intercultural Communication. The teaching load at USF is two courses per semester with an additional course every fourth semester (2-2-2-3 over 2 years).

Qualifications: University teaching experience, evidence of a strong commitment to teaching, evidence of scholarship, an earned doctorate by Fall 2008, experience and willingness to work in a culturally diverse environment, and an understanding of and commitment to support the mission of the University are required. The candidate will be expected to develop a significant, independent and ongoing research program.

Applicants should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, graduate transcripts, brief description of research plans, copies of recent publication(s) and/or research paper(s), statement of teaching philosophy, evidence of teaching ability including copies of official teaching evaluations, and three letters of recommendation to:

Communication Studies Search Committee
c/o Marilyn DeLaure, Search Committee Chair
Department of Communication Studies
University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080.

Applications must be received by October 1, 2007 in order to ensure full consideration.

The University of San Francisco is a Jesuit Catholic university founded in 1855 to educate leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world. Candidates should demonstrate a commitment to work in a culturally diverse environment and to contribute to the mission of the University.

USF is an Equal Opportunity Employer dedicated to affirmative action and to excellence through diversity. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants with disabilities upon request.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

planting a move

for the last year, sarah and i have been subletting a third-floor flat in the lower haight. the place is centrally located: a ten minute walk to the castro, a ten minute walk to the mission, a fifteen minute walk to haight-ashbury. sarah's walk to work is thirty-five minutes and mine is twenty-five. if we can't hoof it, muni trains are a two minute walk away.

this month we move - to a flat in the mission. the place is a dream and still has sarah and me occassionally pinching ourselves and saying out loud, "really?" there's a lot to be excited about with our new place but one thing my mind returns to again and again is the outside deck. an outside deck in the sunniest part of the city means we get a garden. with luck, we'll be all moved in by the end of july.

in the meantime, a growing number of tomatoes, cucumbers, and spices have begun appearing, apparently hoping to make the move to the deck in august.




Friday, July 06, 2007

sometimes the present archives the past in beautiful ways

bob dylan, allen ginsberg, and (a buried) jack kerouac remixed. music, poetry, and film - not to mention a book, on the road, which never appears in the video but is everywhere to be seen. sometimes the present archives the past in beautiful ways.

thanks pablo!

Monday, July 02, 2007

tenure track job in media studies at usf

MEDIA STUDIES POSITION:
Media and Society

Deadline: October 1, 2007


The Media Studies Department at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level, anticipated to begin Fall 2008.

Responsibilities include teaching two undergraduate courses per semester, plus one additional course over two years (2-2-2-3 over two years), and an active program of research and service. The successful candidate will be qualified to teach at least two of our introductory and core courses (Introduction to Media Studies, Media Institutions, Media Audiences, Media Stereotyping and Violence, and Communication Law and Policy) as well as courses related to the candidate's specialty. Expertise and interest in teaching basic digital communication practice will be a plus as will an emphasis on race/ethnicity and international/global issues.

The Department is seeking an individual who is able to work with diverse students and colleagues. Ph. D., or equivalent advanced degree in a related field, plus a record of teaching, professional experience and research, or other relevant creative activity, are required.

Applicants should submit, by October 1, 2007, a letter of application, curriculum vitae, graduate transcripts, brief description of research plans, evidence of teaching ability (including sample syllabi, student evaluations, and a statement of teaching philosophy) and three letters of recommendation to:

Dr. David Silver
Media Studies Search Committee
Media Studies Department
University Center 538
University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080

We encourage minority and women candidates to apply. USF is an Equal Opportunity Employer dedicated to affirmative action and to excellence through diversity. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants with disabilities upon request.

The University of San Francisco is a Jesuit Catholic university founded in 1855 to educate leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world. Candidates should demonstrate a commitment to work in a culturally diverse environment and to contribute to the mission of the University.

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