A friend recently said something to the effect that “we can slow down when we’re in the ground.” I’d really like to slow down before then, but I know it will be hard for me to do. In the coming months I hope to establish some balance among my research, writing, volunteer work, time with […]
Institutional Racism and the Morrill Act
I was recently on a panel at the University YWCA in Champaign called “Institutional Racism 101.” This is part of a series the YW presents that provides participants a “racial justice certificate” when the series concludes. Gia Lewis-Smallwood organizes the series. Kudos to her and the Y! I was pleased to meet a whole new […]
Mozilla Ignite “Killer” Apps
The Mozilla Foundation has joined with the National Science Foundation and U.S. Ignite to sponsor a “killer app” challenge. The deadline is August 23. Today I submitted my idea, which you can see here along with many, many others. (There are monetary prizes.) This is the 150th anniversary of a mass execution of 38 Dakota […]
Bondville Stop of the “Inter-Urban” Project
What do a panel truck, a jib crane and the remains of a wooden grain elevator have in common? All are being repurposed by an energetic, volunteer team of sculptors and designers for Urbana Land Arts Inter-Urban project. When it is all finished (soon–in August 2012!), it will be a mobile exhibition space, with the […]
Illinois and Imagining America
I know that I am comparing apples and oranges when I complain that the University of Illinois is paying $175,000 to Lisa Troyer to leave but that it cannot find $5,000 to pay dues to maintain UIUC membership in Imagining America. Troyer is former chief of staff to former UI President Michael Hogan, and now […]
The Performance of Information Flows
Information & Culture: A Journal of History has accepted my article on Stephen Willats for a forthcoming issue 47:4(November/December 2012), to be exact. It’s one of the reasons why my blogging has been so sporadic. Here’s a wordle of the article.
Autobiography through My Hair
An entirely frivolous post: a visual history of my hair. On the left is the reason why I cut my hair in the mid-eighties: it was so appealing for babies to yank […]
“All that We Let In”
Metaphorically speaking, I agree with the lyrics of The Indigo Girls’ song when they sing “we’re better off for all that we let in.” The song reminds me to be open to challenges and growth, but of course sometimes “all” the suffering of the world is too much and needs to be balanced by celebration […]
The Resilience of Meaning
Stephen Willats is interested in both information networks and networks of meaning, each connected to real people in real locations. In Willats’ art, these networks intersect and overlap in complex ways; words, pauses, gestures, posture, and spaces between, all contribute both information and meaning to exchanges that are captured as “Data Stream: A Portrait of […]
Prairie Alert: Act NOW!
Today, David Monk asked help spreading the word about this state of affairs: “Heartland Pathways has received very late notification from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) that an important relocated remnant prairie at the I-57 rest stop near Pesotum is about to be destroyed to make way for expanding sewage facilities. This prairie has […]