Oral Histories of your Family: Questions I Failed to Ask With age, I’ve become more aware of the questions I should have asked my parents and grandparents. Like many others, I was interested in my family’s history. For example, I have long treasured my “Aunt Ann’s” family bible with key dates and events recorded in … Continue reading Oral Histories of your Family
teaching
New Histories of Information and Media Technologies
New Historical Perspectives on Media and Information Technologies? For decades, students of media, communication, and internet studies have been so focused on the future that the past is too often ignored. Is there a rising interest in the history of media and information technologies and policies? Might more attention to the past hold promise for … Continue reading New Histories of Information and Media Technologies
Information Policy: An Unsettled Issue of the Digital Age
Information Policy: Broadening our Perspective on the Issue for the Digital Age There is widespread awareness that we are living in a post-industrial, information society, as we have learned from such seminal thinkers as Daniel Bell (1973). Given such an awareness, it is surprising to that the study of “information policy” is not more prominent. … Continue reading Information Policy: An Unsettled Issue of the Digital Age
A. Michael Noll Reflects on Two Art Exhibitions
TWO EXHIBITIONS: THE PAST – THE FUTURE A. Michael Noll August 4, 2022 [The following commentary is authored by A. Michael Noll, and posted with the permission of the author. Michael was a pioneer in computer art in the 1960s, when the very idea of computer art might have been inexplicable.] In 1968, two exhibitions … Continue reading A. Michael Noll Reflects on Two Art Exhibitions
Volker Schneider: a Professor’s Professor
I’ve returned from a Festschrift for Prof. Dr. Volker Schneider, who has moved to an Emeritus Professorship at the University of Konstanz in 2020. While a celebration of his retirement was delayed repeatedly by the pandemic, his colleagues moved ahead with an edited collection of papers for his Festschrift around the politics of the complex … Continue reading Volker Schneider: a Professor’s Professor
Remember the General Assembly Vote
141 nations voted in favour of the UN General Assembly motion condemning the invasion of Ukraine. Beyond the two nations – Russia and Belarus – responsible for the invasion of Ukraine, only three countries voted against the resolution approved by the UN General Assembly: North Korea, Eritrea, and Syria. While this was a strong endorsement … Continue reading Remember the General Assembly Vote
Steven A. Peterson (September 10, 1947–December 10, 2021)
Loss of a Team Leading Pioneer in Politics and Public Policy: A Memoriam to Steven A. Peterson (September 10, 1947–December 10, 2021) by William H. Dutton Steven A. Peterson died suddenly at home on December 10, 2021 at the age of 74. Steve Peterson and I were both born in 1947 and over half a … Continue reading Steven A. Peterson (September 10, 1947–December 10, 2021)
Public-Private Tensions in the UK
UK Business and Government Tensions: Towards a More Functional Relationship The handwringing over sleaze accusations and the fuss over Peppa Pig referenced as an example of a major business success are just two recent manifestations to what I’ve sensed to be a long-term, awkward, and dysfunctional relationship between business and government in the UK. The … Continue reading Public-Private Tensions in the UK
Could History be the New, New Thing? Archiving
Could History be the New, New Thing: Archiving Could it be that the digerati are beginning to wonder about the origins of such ‘innovations’ as video communication, AI, remote work, and more? Are they discovering that all these innovations have a long history in the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs)? These questions arose … Continue reading Could History be the New, New Thing? Archiving
Get Back to the Classroom
Get Back to the Classroom Given continuing uncertainties about the COVID pandemic and its variants, it is understandable that many universities are not in a position as yet to commit to in-person, face-to-face, teaching and a return to normality on college and university campuses. This is particularly the case for those individuals – teachers and … Continue reading Get Back to the Classroom