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[xmca] HASTAC conversation about openness in academia

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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