[Air-l] Info-Mapping colloquium, Ryerson U., Toronto

[Greg Elmer]

Colloquium Announcement -- Rogers Communication Centre

November 15, 1-3pm, Rogers Communication Centre (room 229)
Ryerson University, 
80 Gould St., Toronto

Mapping Info-Politics: Parsing the Commands and Codes of the Web 

The colloquium will highlight a number of ongoing projects that forward innovative new media research methods and info-tools (software programs). All three presentations offer distinct yet complimentary projects that map the de-centered and distributed politics of the web. The workshop will be of particular interest to students, scholars, and practitioners of cyber politics and culture, network infrastructure and architecture, hypertext studies, and social and political networking.  

Putting Networks back into the Net: Mapping the Enron Scandal
Dr. Greg Elmer, Bell Globemedia Research Chair, Ryerson University

Dr. Elmer will offer a functionalist, Peircean version of semiotics to ground his articulation of a networked form of media studies. Dr. Elmer will discuss the Govcomorg Foundation’s ‘Issuecrawler’ (www.govcom.org) and his own ‘robot sniffer’ program as examples of info-tools that visualize network dynamics largely obfuscated by the major web knowledge aggregators (Google, Yahoo, etc.). 

Networks of Evil? The North Korean Issue-Space
Zachary  Devereaux, Graduate student, Department of Political Science, University of Alberta

New media mapping techniques have been applied to a host of issues related to North Korea over the last year, including the “Axis of Evil” rhetoric, human rights, and WMD. This presentation will explain the methodology that has lead to mapping the North Korean new media news space and  expert community. Major events in the peninsular crisis will be reviewed, and maps produced with ReseauLu (www.aguidel.com) and IssueCrawler (www.govcom.org) software will be explored.

The OpenNet Initiative
Dr. Ron Deibert, Citizen Lab, University of Toronto

Professor Deibert will be describing the research methodology and some of 
the findings of the Citizen Lab's technical interrogation work as part 
of the OpenNet Initiative.  The OpenNet Initiative’s aim is to excavate, expose and analyze filtering and surveillance practices in a credible and 
non-partisan fashion. To achieve these aims, the ONI employs a unique 
multi-disciplinary approach that includes: Advanced Technical Means -- 
using a suite of sophisticated network interrogation tools and metrics; 
and Local Knowledge Expertise -- through a global network of regionally 
based researchers and experts.  Professor Deibert will highlight some of 
the more notable findings of the ONI, including filtering practices in 
Iran, China, Uzbekistan, and Saudi Arabia.


Date: November 15, 2004	 
Time: 1pm-3pm	
Location: Rogers Communication Centre, room 229, Ryerson University, 
80 Gould St. Toronto	

Contact: Greg Elmer, gelmer at ryerson.ca




Greg Elmer, PhD
Bell Globemedia Research Chair
Rogers Communications Centre/School of Radio-TV Arts 
Ryerson University
350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario
Canada      M5B 2K3
_______________________________________________
Co-Editor, 
Space and Culture: An International Journal of Social Spaces
http://www.carleton.ca/space/