The Future of Public Institutions

PRESENTERS

Public Keynote Lectures & Conversation, Friday, May 2, 2008

David Bearman (President, Archives and Museum Informatics)

David Bearman, Founding Partner of Archives & Museum Informatics in Toronto, consults for cultural institutions on information strategy. Since leaving the Smithsonian Institution (where he was Deputy Director of the Office of Information Resources Management) in 1986, Bearman has directed his own consulting firm which specializes in developing new business models and economic frameworks for archive and museum consortia, that take advantage of information technologies to rethink their approaches to management and delivery of cultural resources. Bearman has been responsible for guiding the development of a national information system for archives in the U.S., national policies towards electronic records management in several countries, national and international museum collaborations and network initiatives, and the definition of a variety of archival, museum, library and publishing non-profits that exploit and develop information standards.

Prof Darin Barney (Canada Research Chair in Technology & Citizenship, McGill University)

Darin Barney is a native of Vancouver, Canada, and studied at Simon Fraser University and the University of Toronto, where he trained in political theory and received a Ph.D. in 1999. In 2002, he was the Hixon-Riggs Visiting Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, and he has also taught at the University of Ottawa, the University of New Brunswick at Saint John, the University of Toronto at Scarborough, McMaster University, and Simon Fraser University. His research interests focus on the philosophy of technology, media and communication theory, and media and democracy. His courses emphasize philosophic responses to the ontological, political and ethical dimensions of technological society, and the debates arising from these responses.

Barney is the author of Communication Technology: The Canadian Democratic Audit (UBC Press: 2005); The Network Society (Polity Press: 2004; second printing 2006); and Prometheus Wired: The Hope for Democracy in the Age of Network Technology (UBC/Chicago/UNSW 2000) which was awarded the 2001 Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communication Research by the McGannon Center for Communication Research at Fordham University, selected as an Outstanding Title in political theory for 2001 by the American Library Association's Choice Reviews and a Finalist for the 2002 Harold Adams Innis book prize. He is co-editor with Andrew Feenberg of Community in the Digital Age: Philosophy and Practice (Rowman and Littlefield: 2004) and recipient in 2003 of the inaugural Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada's Aurora Prize for outstanding contribution to Canadian intellectual life by a new researcher. In 2004, Barney was selected as one of fifteen "Leaders of Tomorrow" by the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering. From 2000-2005, he served on the Advisory Council of the Law Commission of Canada and he is currently on the Board of Directors of CKUT Radio McGill.

Moderated by Kathryn Gretsinger (CBC, University of British Columbia)

Kathryn Gretsinger is an Adjunct Professor at the UBC School of Journalism and works with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio service. Her career began in 1988 working as a researcher at CBC Radio in Vancouver. From there, she moved to Edmonton to begin a stint as an Associate Producer. Kathryn then returned to BC to begin a run as the morning reporter for Vancouver’s highly rated morning show The Early Edition. Kathryn covered a wide range of stories from treaty negotiations to women giving birth. From the mysteries of Vancouver’s underground tunnels to the exploding drug scene on the cities downtown east side. Her concern about people with mental illnesses living on the streets led to a number of series. This work was recognized by the Jack Webster Foundation and the Radio and Television News Director’s Association.

Her love of radio documentary took hold during days prowling Vancouver’s streets for stories. Her documentary A Level Playing Field examined the life of Chinese students in early 1900s Vancouver. The piece illustrated the great strides Chinese Canadians have made both in the sporting world and beyond. The documentary won a series of awards.

In 1996, Kathryn took on a full time role as a radio host. She was the voice of the CBC’s Afternoon Show until 2004. Kathryn completed her Masters Degree in Journalism at the University of British Columbia. She continues her various roles with the public broadcaster. Kathryn frequently guest hosts national and regional programs. She trains reporters and producers on radio skills and documentary production at CBC Radio. And, when time permits, she records and produces audio documentaries for the network.

Symposium, Saturday May 3, 2008

Session 1: The Press and New Media

Chair: Mike Ananny (Stanford University)

Mike Ananny is a Doctoral Candidate and Trudeau Scholar in Stanford University’s Communication department where he researches technology-supported civic communication. He holds a Bachelors of Science (Honours, Computer Science & Human Biology) from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Science from the MIT Media Laboratory. From 2001-2004 Ananny was a founding researcher at Media Lab Europe (the European Research Partner of the MIT Media Lab) where he designed and evaluated technologies to support public opinion development. His doctoral research focuses on better understanding how how bloggers, mainstream journalists, and technology companies signal the value of different democratic communication norms as they adopt and adapt technologies that mediate between journalistic expertise and public participation.

Prof Alfred Hermida (University of British Columbia)

Alfred Hermida is an award-winning online news pioneer and journalism educator. He is an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Journalism, the University of British Columbia, where he leads the multiplatform journalism program. He is an authority on multimedia journalism, having been a founding news editor of BBCNews.com. During 16 years at the BBC, he worked in TV, radio and online, covering regional, national and international news. His work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London and The Guardian. Prof Hermida’s research interests include the impact of digital communications technology on journalism and new multiplatform models of journalism education. He is a frequent commentator on Internet trends such as social media and participatory journalism, and blogs about the intersection of media and technology at www.reportr.net.

Prof Adrienne Russell (University of Denver)

Adrienne Russell is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media Studies at the University of Denver. Her research interests center on emerging media tools and practices and how they impact communication industries and products. Before joining the Digital Media Studies faculty, she held a two-year fellowship at University of Southern California's Annenberg Center, where she collaboratively wrote and edited a book on networked publics to be published by MIT Press in 2008. She also organized, with a committee of scholars, the first annual 24/7: DIY Video Summit (www.video24-7.org/) held at USC in February 2008. Adrienne is currently working on a book that examines the evolving values and practices of journalism. The book, Networked, builds on research concerning convergent and participatory media culture by exploring interaction among the people who produce the news and the evolving relationship between the news and the public. Most recently she is co-editer of International Blogging, a volume of case studies on the way national and local contexts influence blogging around the world, to be published in 2008 by Peter Lang as part of Steve Jones’s Digital Formations series. Adrienne holds a BA in Cultural Studies from the University of Califonia Santa Cruz, an MS in Media Studies from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Communication from Indiana University. More current projects and interests can be found at her website adrienne.typepad.com.

Tim Richards (CBC)

Tim Richards is a senior producer for CBC News Digital Media in British Columbia. As part of CBC's redevelopment of its regional web presence BC was selected in the past year to be an incubator for CBC's entry into the world of user generated content. As such they have pioneered some of the techniques the network is now using to engage the audience in coverage. Before joining Digital Media Richards was both a field and program producer for CBC Network TV News. He began his career with CBC working on various network and Newsworld programs including Schlesinger, Sunday Report and Midday. He was later a field producer in Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, DC, covering politics, economics and spot news for both Newsworld, the CBC's all news station and the National, the network's flagship television newscast. More recently, he was the senior producer for Canada Now, CBC's national supperhour newscast before taking up his duties in Digital Media. Over the years he has also been in an inhouse trainer for CBC News teaching courses in script vetting and ethics. Richards is a graduate of the MA program in journalism at the University of Western Ontario.

Session 2: New Media and the Museum

Chair: Kate Hennessy (University of British Columbia)

Kate Hennessy is a Doctoral Candidate in Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, and a Trudeau Scholar. She received her Masters of Arts in the Anthropology of Media from the University of London, SOAS. As assistant editor of the journal Visual Anthropology Review, she designed its first multimedia CD-ROM edition. Hennessy has taught documentary video production at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School, coordinated community–based mapping and oral history projects, and has contributed to CBC Radio’s Outfront. She recently co-curated and produced a Virtual Museum of Canada exhibit with the Doig River First Nation. Her current work with Aboriginal communities in northern British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon uses methods of participatory ethnography while facilitating collaborative community media projects as videographer, media skills trainer, and multimedia producer. Her doctoral research is grounded in the history and trajectory of museum repatriation, and explores the transformative role of new media in museum and academic practice. She connects this concept to issues of ethnographic representation, language revitalization, and the relative social and economic roles of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.

Prof Susan Rowley (University of British Columbia)

Susan Rowley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and a Curator at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Sue has worked with Inuit communities and with First Nations communities in British Columbia. Along with Leona Sparrow (Musqueam Indian Band), Dave Schaepe (Sto:lo Nation/Tribal Council), and Andrea Sanborn (U’mista Cultural Society), Sue is a member of the Reciprocal Research Network (RRN) Steering Group. This committee is tasked with overseeing and developing the RRN. In her research Sue is examining issues of inclusion, voice, intellectual property rights and access to information on cultural heritage.

Prof Kimberly Christen (Washington State University)

Kimberly Christen is an Assistant Professor in the Comparative Ethnic Studies Department at Washington State University. Her research focuses on contemporary articulations of indigeneity globally but with specific attention to Australia. She has worked collaboratively with the Warumungu community in Central Australia on a range of projects including an oral history and DVD, an educational website and a community digital archive (www.mukurtuarchive.org). Her current research grows from this work and focuses on the intersection of digital technologies, museum spaces, intellectual property rights and heritage movements within indigenous communities. Dr. Christen maintains a blog, Long Road (www.kimberlychristen.com), where she regularly addresses these issues and archives her publications and on-going projects.

Dr. George MacDonald (Bill Reid Foundation)

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Session 3: Making Connections

Provocateur:
Prof Arthur Kroker (Canada Research Chair in Technology, Culture, and Theory, University of Victoria)

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