BloggerCon II Weblog - Celebrating the art and science of weblogs, April 17 at Harvard Law School.

Permanent link to archive for 4/4/04. Sunday, April 4, 2004

Schedule changes

Several changes to the schedule.
 
1. Added a Welcome session in Pound 200, 8:15AM to 8:45AM.
 
2. Shortened each session to 1.25 hours instead of 1.5.
 
3. Fifteen minutes between sessions.
 
4. Lunch is 1.75 hours. Now you can have a second coffee or Diet Coke and go to the bathroom. ;->
 
5. Switched Blogging as a Business with Blogging in Academia, per the request of Jarvis and Denton, who want to link their two sessions.
 
6. Added a new slot, at the end of the day, 4:45PM-5:45PM, to summarize, set the agenda for the next conference, talk about the party, help people coordinate Sunday activities.
 
Note: I have room for as many as four more sessions. I only want two sessions in the opening 9AM slot, to allow people to come late if they want, and to put the focus on two key branches -- technology and journalism. That reflects my bias of course, but that's the point of having an editor. Future BC's may or may not have different focus. Who knows how it goes!
 
Note: The schedule is still preliminary and for discussion purposes.

# Posted by Dave Winer on 4/4/04; 1:17:20 PM - --

Session: Blogging in Academia

The modern university embodies a paradox. On one hand, it is a community of scholars that espouses the values of free inquiry and the pursuit of truth above all else. On the other hand, university administration is usually conducted through a strict, compartmentalized hierachy that is conservative, even insular, in protecting the prerogatives of the tenured faculty (and the ruling coalition within that group).

The espoused value of open inquiry and the reality of rigid social control come starkly into conflict when the university is the subject of internal criticism. Such criticism, on the part of students, staff, alumni, and faculty, seldom gets aired or gains much traction. This because of the strict internal control over information exchange, and because the tenured faculty is really answerable to no one, except perhaps the law in cases of individual misconduct. Alumni are dispersed and have moved on (although continue to be viewed as important sources of connections and funds). Students are there for a relatively short time and are easily stone-walled. Staff have little voice. Junior faculty are cowed by the implicit threat of denial of promotion, and the lack of any safe forum within to raise issues.

The use of blogs to engage in institutional criticism illuminates and sharpens this fundamental values-control tension in the university. The blog is an instrument that encourages the free sharing of information. But when it's subject is institutional criticism, it cannot be easily controlled by traditional methods of hierarchy and compartmentalization.

Michael Watkins is the discussion leader for this session.

# Posted by Dave Winer on 4/4/04; 11:46:08 AM - --