08/09: A summer report and a look ahead

A long post here -- mostly bookkeeping and scheduling. Considering how little I have been posting to the blog, it's better than nothing.

So the school year has begun and like everyone else who does this for a living I can't believe the summer is over. I really mean it this time -- the break flew right by me. The weather in Ottawa was terrible most of the time, which is probably why I feel like I didn't have much of a summer this time around.

In assessing my work performance this summer, the results are good, bad, and ugly.

On the good side: I finally finished my chapter about Facebook for the third edition of How Canadians Communicate. The title is, "Log on, Goof Off, Look Up: Facebook and the Rhythms of Canadian Internet Use." In the article I use Facebook as a way to tease out what I consider as three soft spots within media studies research, particularly when it comes to digital media: the problem of measuring media use; accounting for the use of media technologies as a distraction in workplaces, and considering the relationship between internet applications are and older informational forms. The way we use applications like Facebook and Google draws on practices of "looking stuff up", like in a telephone book, office directory, or yearbook. I'm planning to expand on these ideas over the course of a few different articles in the future, but this one gets the basic ideas down. I'll post an electronic version of the piece once it makes it through the peer review process.

Other good: An article I wrote 3 years ago is finally going to the presses. The piece, "Peace, Order, and Good Banking: Packaging History and Memory in Canadian Advertising," will actually appear in Public Memory in Canada, edited by Peter Hodgins and Nicole Neatby and published by the University of Toronto Press in 2009. Don't ask me what the article is about -- I can't even remember writing it. But it's done and it'll be on bookshelves soon, which is all I can ask for.

Also good: I am experimenting with a couple of collaborative writing projects. One is with a colleague at another university; one is with a colleague in another department here, and the other is with one of my graduate students. These projects are still in the embryonic stages, so I don't want to jinx them until they are finished, but I'm enjoying the group work so far. How that translates to writing is another story. Maybe I'll blog about it when it's over.

This too is good: I have fussed around with my syllabus for my "Entertainment Studies" graduate seminar to the point that I can say that after countless variations, I am finally happy with it. This hasn't been something I could say the last few years. where I thought the course was missing something. While I realize it's not perfect, it's as good as it has been. On top of the that the students in the seminar, while numerous, look to be interested and engaged. So that's saying something. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send along a copy. Many people have helped me with the process, giving me suggestions for readings and helping me think through different ways to present the information. Thanks to those people -- you know who you are.

On the bad side: I had planned to spend the summer writing the book version of my dissertation on the history of Canadian audiovisual policy knowledge. I even told the publisher that this was plan and that they could bank on a manuscript arriving in early September. Well, some predictions don't always come to pass, so add mine to the pile. All is not lost -- see the plans for the school year below.

As for ugly: This blog. I'm not happy with it. The image at the top is too big, the design is ugly, and I don't post a whole lot. I think that qualifies me as having a lame blog. This post probably doesn't do a whole lot to change that perception.

So I head into the 08/09 year with a fresh list of to-do's and a decent amount of energy. Here's what's on tap:

September-October: There is much to do here on top of the usual load -- finish two collaborative writing projects; submit grant applications; take care of other administrative paperwork, organize two talks by visiting colleagues. I figure all of that will be in the bag by Thanksgiving.

November: Only one thing. I'll be participating in "Engage", Carleton's public lecture series on current events. My talk is entitled, "Pirates, Profanity, and Potentially Racy Movies: Assessing the Provocative Cultural Policies of the Conservative Government":

The first year under the minority government of Stephen Harper saw relatively little action in the areas of arts and cultural policy. Since then, the government has proposed a number of policy initiatives that have attracted considerable controversy. These include sweeping changes to Canada's copyright laws; withdrawing funding cuts to a range of cultural programs and redirecting other funds towards the upcoming Olympics in Vancouver and providing new powers enabling the Minister of Canadian Heritage to withdraw tax credits for film and television productions deemed to be "contrary to public policy". In addition to these proposed changes, there are also important developments on the regulatory front. In the coming year, Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, the CRTC, will make a number of rulings which may have a significant impact on the television, Internet, radio, and cellular phones Canadians use, and the domestic content produced for those devices. The activities of the various departments responsible for Canada’s cultural sectors may well represent the lasting legacies of this minority government.

In this talk I move beyond an analysis of the political machinations and emotionally charged rhetoric that have characterized much of the discussion to date. Even if an election puts a hold on these proposed changes, I argue that these developments serve a provocative function, stimulating important debates on the future of federal support for arts and culture in an environment characterized by abundant media platforms, concerns over media concentration and access, and new relations between producers and consumers made possible by digital technologies.

The talk takes place on November 4. More information, including the location, will be posted at the "Engage" site by the end of September.

November - May: That talk segues nicely into what will dominate the rest of my time. I solemnly swear that I will turn all of my non-teaching, non-administrative, non-advising, non-parenting efforts towards finishing the book. A light teaching load in the winter means I've got about 5-6 months to get a manuscript off to the publisher by the end of the school year. This means no conferences until the spring and no other side writing projects. Unless one comes along, of course. Oh, there I go again.

One more thing I'll definitely have to deal with: the future of this blog. I'll keep you posted.