Notes from Congress '08

hey there from Vancouver;

the transcript to the keynote to Congress 2008 has been posted on the UBC site. the title is intriguing, tho' it strikes me as odd for someone for whom it does actually matter to ask and answer whether "universities really matter."

anyway, i look forward to reading the keynote (i've been horribly bad at attending, and selfish at taking a vacation); here it is (as a PDF file):

Stephen Toope: "Crossing Borders, Contesting Values: Do Universities Matter?"

CCA presentation at Congress '08 - see you there!

Here's the abstract for my upcoming presentation at Canadian Communications Association conference @ Congress '08 in Vancouver. I'll be presenting on Friday morning, bright and early at 9am! Hitch a ride if you need to, but be sure to swing by!

Kris Erickson, Independent Scholar, Coordinator, Arts TA Development Program, Ryerson University
Between Two Worlds: Envisioning "Born into Brothels"

Born into Brothels (2004), a documentary film by photographer Zana Briski and filmmaker Ross Kauffman, occupies a unique place as a cultural object. Ostensibly the chronicle of a collaborative, intercultural, participatory photography or “photovoice” project with the children of sex-trade workers in Calcutta, Born into Brothels documents Briski’s encounters with her young students in and beyond the camera workshops she organizes for them. Yet more than simply a collaborative project, the film is also a journalistic account, a narrative authored at least as much by Briski and Kauffman as by the children whose images constitute the filmic space, and whose photographs punctuate the storyline. Since its release, the film’s supposedly neutral portrayal of these children and the products of their photographic education have been both celebrated and criticized, earning at once an Academy Award (as best documentary feature in 2005) and sharp criticism from social advocacy groups in Calcutta and in North America. This paper will analyze several images from the film in order to better understand how the products of contemporary visual communication like this documentary might successfully blur the boundaries between aesthetic representation and political agency. Because this film presents a rare glimpse into what teaching and learning looks like, it is an important text which highlights what I see as a pedagogical impulse underlying key discourses of contemporary media makers and media systems. In this paper I explore what the film attempts to teach us—about photography as well as about cultural practice—and consider what we might actually be learning from it in the end. As questions about the nature of truth and subjectivity, knowledge and information continue to be raised with respect to emerging communicational technologies and new media practices, a critical understanding of the increasing complexities of our visual worlds becomes crucially important.

CFP: Graduate Student Research Conference on Latin America and the Caribbean

Note to self:

Marta, apply to this the Graduate Student Research Conference on Latin America and the Caribbean. It is only a grad conference and you'll feel bad when the time comes and you haven't applied and you realize that your abstract would have totally have gotten in. Don't delay, do it now.

2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of York University's Centre for
Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), Canada's oldest and
largest research group on the region. As part of a year-long series of events to
mark this achievement, CERLAC is hosting a Graduate Student Research Conference on Latin America and the Caribbean on November 7th and 8th, 2008, at York University in Toronto.

In recognizing the strength of diversity, papers and presentation proposals are
welcome on any aspect of study of Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole
and/or its constituent parts. We particularly seek, however, to attract
those contributors whose work can open fruitful dialogues and exchange across
disciplines. Consistent with CERLAC's long-standing spirit and practice of
collaboration, graduate students from other institutions are also invited to
submit abstracts to the conference and to share in this celebration of graduate
student scholarship.

Since its founding in 1978, the academic and institutional reputation of CERLAC and York University’s diverse graduate programs have attracted many students from Canada and abroad. This conference represents an outstanding opportunity to recognize, explore and build upon the work of the current generation of graduate students in all disciplines, including (but not limited to) the social sciences, humanities, fine arts, environmental studies, law and business.

Contact/Submissions:
To obtain the required conference application form, please click here. The form
includes a request for a 250-word (maximum) abstract for papers or alternative
presentations.

The deadline for applications is August 31th, 2008; however, those planning to present in artistic/alternative formats (e.g. film, dance, visual arts, music, etc.) are encouraged to contact us earlier for logistical/planning purposes. Inquiries and completed application forms may be sent to lacsconf@yorku.ca.

Applicants will receive confirmation of acceptance by October 1st, 2008. Those
students wishing to receive more detailed feedback from a panel discussant will
be asked to submit their full papers/presentation material by October 10th, 2008
to facilitate a thorough review.

Environmental Studies Association of Canada - ESAC

Well, when talking about listservs and associations, ESAC should have been an obvious one. There is a $40 fee to join in, and we do have already one subscription to Alternatives, but it sounds like it might be worthy. Chrisa, let me know if you are interested...

Look what you get:

• [Yet] A[nother] subscription to Alternatives Journal, "Canada's Environmental Quarterly since 1971"
• Two issues of the ESAC Newsletter, with information about conferences, research projects, coming events, new publications and teaching materials and more. [Much more].
• An annual directory of ESAC members and their areas of interest/research [and hobbies]
• Access to ESAC-L, our internet information and discussion list [Sharlene might be on this one too!]
• The annual ESAC Conference in association with the Learned Societies Conferences of Canada [Matt presented at one of these!!]

How can you refuse?

Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication

I came across the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM) which describes themselves as:

"Canada’s only, national, bilingual, network for environmental education and communication. We are a membership-based, charitable organization that is multi-disciplinary, multi-regional, multi-cultural and multi-sectoral. We work with provincial groups and multiple sectors to support and develop competency in educators, communicators, learners and consumers, and build capacity for environmental learning and sustainability."

It fits very well with Matt's interests, although they don't sound overly academic. A good and a bad thing, I suppose. They have a conference coming up on September, Sarah Harmer is a keynote speaker too?!

i missed the deadline!!

maybe i had subconscious fears of political disruptions, but i procrastinated (or alternately, blame my office for too much work) on the isee in nairobi conference, and was so tired tonight but debated getting it in by midnight on the deadline. however, the secretariat is in new zealand and is *closed*, so i missed it, even though i wasn't planning to go anyways, i really wanted to go through the process.

maybe i am lucky this week, i searched for a bit and found this list, and i *am* carefully debating hooking up with friends in thailand in august, and what do you know? there is an energy security and climate change conference in bangkok right after i plan on landing there, with academics from all over, including UBC and Toronto, so maybe my vacation will include improving my academic credentials as well. and maybe there is even something relevant closer to home, but i doubt it--sadly, i think everything in canada is about the tar sands these days, and i think my masters work actually is more likely to be employed in a country facing real scarcity.