that's a wrap!

Well. We're done!

We just got back from Rotterdam, home of Erasmus Universiteit. We were up at 5h00, on the train by 6h30, in Rotterdam by 8h00 and presented our material at 11h00, and home free by 13h00. The presentations all went really well, with only a few minor technological issues (the projector decided to go into standby halfway through the New Media presentation and Ruben's laptop [Vista, of course] decided to freak out and not acknowledge the projector). Our session was somewhat sparsely attended, but the feedback we received was all positive, exceptionally cool because it came from experts in the field! I'm so relieved we're done, and I can't wait to get home tomorrow! One more trip to Vleminckx best-fries-in-the-city and we're good to go!

Public Scholarship & the Academic Lexicon

First, I would like to verbalize my absolute excitement about my enrollment in Professor David Domke's class fall quarter - I was unsure what to make of him as, prior to reading this article, I had no previous connection to him; now, I am stoked beyond belief. Talk about a passionate professor!

Publication Methods:
-Digital Media (YouTube, this blog [or another dedicated to research])
-Print (Submitting an article to an academic journal, but more likely, to a 'lay publication' like Architectural Digest, or more importantly, writing a book designated for the general population; a publication of this nature will reach a much broader audience than a simple academic essay/article/book) This is public scholarship, it should be accessible to everyone from third graders (although I doubt they'd be interested) to doctoral students to your grandma.

In terms of my presentation, it is most important for me to be mindful of jargon; when you are so familiar with a subject and its associated terminology, you often forget what is jargon and what is not. It is important to keep the audience in mind (even at a scholastic conference).

Armed with this knowledge, I hope that when it comes time to present my findings from this project, I'll be able to assemble a presentation that is engaging, informative and humanistic. The Academic Paradox: you may have just had the most brilliant and mind-blowing idea in the history of mankind; but if you cannot effectively communicate your thoughts to others, it is as if the idea never existed.

Action on the Ave: Studying Environmental Behavior

       My research partner, Katherine, indulged me an adventure to the Ave - the affectionate nickname for University Way. Last Thursday evening from 7:00 - 7:30pm, as the sun faded beneath the flat gray blanket of clouds, we sat on the patio outside Starbucks, in the drizzle, camera and soon-to-be-soggy notepad in hand. We selected the Ave for several reasons: its busy nature, diverse population, and unique opportunity for interactions between individuals and their environment.

      The intersection we selected, NE 41st Street and University Way, houses several 'typically U-district' features: a Starbucks on the SW corner, Cafe on the Ave on the NW corner, a copy and print center on the NE and an Indian restaurant, Shalimar, on the SE. We observed in a removed, but not hidden, Zeiselian manner: we sat right outside the Starbucks entrance, notepad on the table, camera flashing, and documented our surroundings. On a more specific note, we conducted a 'continuous scan' for thirty minutes, documenting all of the behaviors on our impromptu ethogram. Certainly some perverse part of me was annoyed that no one approached us to inquire as to what we were doing: on the corner, beneath the portico, in the rain, taking pictures and notes on innocent pedestrians. 

       In any case, we noted individuals carrying umbrellas (even after it had stopped raining), individuals wearing Husky gear, with backpacks (or bags used to carry textbooks and notepads), using iPods and cell phones (texting versus speaking) and eating (while walking, not just escaping with takeout), smoking and, of course, a staple of a near-campus location: bicycles.  We noted, by tally, how often these (inter)actions occurred and have drawn several different conclusions. While perhaps half of the individuals walking the Ave were in not alone, more than half were 'plugged in' via cell phone or iPod, even though they were physically engaged with other individuals. We also noted that most of the traffic seemed to be composed of students (not an uncommon notion in an area so close to campus) but I was still somewhat surprised by the sheer volume of apparent students - not to mention those who were not as easily identifiable (visually) as 'STUDENT'. 

       Potential research questions: how do people interact with an intersection? What does this say about them/their relationships? How do people interact with each other in a movement-oriented public space such as this? Who uses the Ave? What are they doing there? Why? 

       My specific research interests lie in the public interactions between individuals, how people express themselves in public: through interactions with other individuals and the environment, and their physical appearance or even emotional 'appearance' via projection and body language. How I will carry this out in Amsterdam,  I do not yet know. 

God Made The World, But The Dutch Made Holland

"Historians are storytellers, as far as I'm concerned," Professor Ran Hennes remarked, by way of introduction and, perhaps, even persuasion to listen to his lecture on the history of Amsterdam and the Netherlands. For those of us who are geographically challenged, he smiled and provided a semi-topographical map of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. With a wink, he explained: "This green, waterlogged place in Northeastern Europe, that's Holland." 

"You see," he began, "1/4 of the country is below sea level, 1/4 is at sea level, and most of the citizens live in the West where they are face to face with the lapping waters of the North Sea." No wonder they wear wooden shoes - at least they would slog through the marsh and float through the wetlands... right? He goes on to describe the Dutch as "Merchants, pure and simple, no one mistook them for philosophers, these were hard-headed business men!" Throughout their colonial phase, the Dutch territories were not colonized to amass land or unite citizens, these lands were collected, invaded and occupied for profit. "At one time, the Dutch not only had the Netherlands but also what is now Belgium and Luxembourg. The Benaluxe states? Now you know!"