Digital Media Lecture Series  

Siva Vaidhyanathan 

Robertson Professor in Media Studies and Chair, Department of Media Studies, University of Virginia 

"Be Evil: Google and the Perils of Corporate Social Responsibility"

September 27, 7:30 p.m.   

Alderson Auditorium 

In this age of radical transparency, can corporations that mistreat their users or cause harm in the world get away with it? Does the market discipline companies so that responsibility is now an essential part of doing business? Or is corporate responsibility just a clever trick to gain a slight marketing advantage and defer state regulation? Is the first and only duty of a company to provide value to its shareholders? Siva Vaidhyanathan, a cultural historian, media scholar, and professor of Media Studies and Law at the University of Virginia, will consider these issues through the lens of Google, the most significant promoter of a corporate moral ethos.

Idea Café at the Commons  

Garth Myers 

Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Urban International Studies, Trinity College 

"What Causes City Dwellers to Riot, and How Do Cities Recover?"

 October 7, 11:30 a.m.  

 The Commons, Spooner Hall 

The Zanzibar Revolution of 1964 followed a period of unrest and rioting that gripped the city for seven years prior. Subsequent riots embroiled Zanzibar City off and on from 1988 to 2001 and have manifested in occasional flare-ups since. Professor Myers will respond to Northwestern University historian Jonathon Glassman's new book, War of Words, War of Stones: Racial Thought and Violence in Colonial Zanzibar (2011), in which the author addresses the roots of Zanzibar's contemporary political violence and struggles and what caused ordinary people to not only riot, but, kill innocent people. Since 2002, Zanzibar City has largely been peaceful, and as of October 2010, it has been governed by a "Government of National Unity." Are there any lessons from its experiences for post-riot recovery for other cities? The Idea Café is intended to elicit energetic exchanges between attendees in response to the speaker's introduction. 

Lunch is provided, and RSVP is required by September 29. Limit 40 guests. 

RSVP to Emily Ryan at thecommons@ku.edu.

Digital Humanities Seminar  

Margaret Pearce, Geography  

"Digital Cartopgraphy and Collaboration in Maine: Transcultural Map Design with the Penobscot Nation" 

 October 4, 3:30-5:00 p.m.  

Hall Center Seminar Room 

This presentation explores the methodological and design challenges inherent to cartographic translations of place name landscapes through the example of Dr. Margaret Pearce's collaboration with the Penobscot Nation Cultural & Historic Preservation Department to map the Wabanaki place names of Penobscot territory. Pearce will focus on how and why she is combining both manual and digital mapping tools in her collaboration, whether as mode of inquiry or means of visual expression.

The Digital Humanities Seminar, co-sponsored by the Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities (IDRH), provides a forum for sharing and discussion of new digitally-enabled humanities research efforts, with a specific focus on what digital humanities tools and practices can do for a range of humanistic research. For more information, contact Arienne Dwyer (Anthropology, 864-2649, anthlinguist (at) ku (dot) edu) or Brian Rosenbloom (KU Libraries, 864-8883, brianlee@ku.edu).

Upcoming Seminars

 Sep 26 Gender Seminar Christina Lux  

 "Sounding the Atlantic, Shaping American Disciplines: The Translation of  Race and Gender from Maryse Condé to Frantz Fanon" 

  Sep 29 Modernities Seminar Brent Steele  

 "Scars, Violence, and Accountability"

Reminder: Award Opportunity Deadlines   

Commons Seed Grant Full Proposal Deadline 

Deadline: Monday, October 31 

These grants are intended to nurture and develop interdisciplinary, collaborative research ideas at the conceptual stage. The outcome of a seed grant should be the development of a substantive grant proposal to an external funding entity. For more information, please contact the Commons at thecommons@ku.edu.

Directorship of the Fall 2012 Faculty Colloquium 

Deadline: Monday, October 31 

The director determines the theme, provides intellectual leadership and guidance, and acts as coordinator of the colloquium. You must use the competitions portal to apply for this competition.