[xmca] HASTAC conversation about openness in academia

[Jenna McWilliams <jennamcjenna@gmail.com>]

I've been working with HASTAC to organize a forum conversation about  
openness in academia, and in my opening comments on this topic I  
included Mike's recent xmca post about copyright and the 5th Dimension:

The words, 5th Dimension, were not first employed by LCHC, although we  
used them in a somewhat unusual way. Remember the band? Probably their  
name is trademarked and we are infringing... except that we are too  
insignificant to bother with.

My own position, having been raised in California, completed a public  
university when it was a public university (now about 80 %  
privatized), is that I am bound by my contract as a faculty member to  
give away my ideas. The University makes me sign some document these  
days that says if I invent something, they get a cut. (Back when i  
attended UCLA professors had to sign a loyalty oath... those times may  
be coming back in addition to privatization, unfortunately).

I think a really productive discussion could focus on the differences  
between what is possible in terms of research in different socio- 
political-economic circumstances. The US has gone hyper neoliberal  
capitalist, as if everyone was reading Das Kapital. Finland has moved  
in the same direction, but perhaps retains some of its past. Brazil  
has its restrictions, etc. How does this affect the potentials for  
developing CHAT research as a public good? What public?

Meantime, we'll keep trying to give it away. Its all I know how to do,  
or care to do.



I'd love to see xmca members join this conversation, which has just  
opened at http://www.hastac.org/forums/hastac-scholars-discussions/openness-academia 
. Please see more details below!

Best,
Jenna


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Fiona Barnett <fiona.barnett@duke.edu>
> Date: October 20, 2010 10:41:32 AM EDT
> To: hastac-scholars2011@duke.edu
> Subject: First Forum is Live: Openness in Academia
>
> Announcing the our first HASTAC Scholars forum of the year!
>
> Openness in Academia
>
> http://www.hastac.org/forums/hastac-scholars-discussions/openness-academia
>
> Hosted by: Jenna McWilliams (Indiana), Jana Remy (UC Irvine) and  
> Susannah McGowan (UCSB)
>
> While the spirit of openness has gained traction in academia,  
> significant challenges exist. How can scholars balance a belief in  
> openness and transparency with requirements to tenure and career  
> advancement? In instruction, how open is too open? How can the  
> university embrace openness and still remain necessary?
>
>
> Please join us for the first HASTAC Scholars Forum: Openness in  
> Academia. In this forum, we’ll explore the benefits and challenges  
> of embracing openness in research, teaching, and university policy,  
> with a particular focus on the changing role of academia in an  
> increasingly open culture. How do you approach openness in your work?
>
> The spirit of openness is gaining traction in academia, both with  
> faculty who are coming to embrace openness in their teaching,  
> research, and publications and with administrators who work to  
> introduce openness in institutional policies. More than a dozen  
> major universities now offer some of their course content to the  
> general public through the use of OpenCourseWare or similar tools;  
> hundreds of universities have committed to making research available  
> through open access policies; and more than 5000 open-access  
> journals are publishing scholarly work.  Yet this progress can  
> obscure or restrict important conversations about the significant  
> challenges to embracing openness in academia.
>
> Please join us in a conversation of openness in academia, including  
> on the following questions:
>
> Openness in research and publishing: How can new academics gain  
> prominence in their field while still embracing openness? How can  
> academics and scholars who are committed to openness negotiate this  
> in their interactions with institutions that rely on scarcity and  
> closed access?
>
> Openness in professional and personal identities: To what extent is  
> privacy at odds with openness? How can academics make decisions  
> about how public to make their engagement with non-academic  
> communities and networks? What is the value of or drawback to  
> developing anonymous or pseudonymous identities, and do these  
> conflict with the spirit of openness?
>
> Openness in teaching and learning: How can we engage openly and  
> transparently with our colleagues about what happens in the  
> classroom?  How would this affect our students?
>
> Openness in policy: Is openness a threat to the university model?  
> How can institutions embrace openness and still remain necessary?
>
> Invited Guests:
>
> Edward Maloney (Georgetown)
> Joshua Danish (Indiana University)
> Clay Whipkey (OpenCourseWare)
> Mark Sample (George Mason University)
> Please help us think through these issues by logging on now: http://www.hastac.org/scholars 
> . Everyone is welcome to join the conversation, so please pass this  
> on!
>
> We look forward to hearing from you!
>
> Fiona Barnett
> Director, HASTAC Scholars
> Ph.D. candidate
> Literature Program and Women's Studies
> Duke University
> fiona.barnett@duke.edu

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