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<title>Monthly MACS - 12 October 2007</title>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Hi all<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Apologies for cross-posting, and for that
fact that this notice will be of more relevance to people in the Brisbane area.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>But please note that the MACS group, which
has been running (on and off) for a couple of years, now has a Facebook
presence. If you are on Facebook, and not in Brisbane, but would like to get
involved in the discussion, feel free to drop by and leave a comment, or join
(or start) a discussion. You can find us here: <a
href="http://uqedu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5017818292">http://uqedu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5017818292</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3 face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Monthly
MACS</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>MACS is a cross-institutional network of early
career researchers, postgraduate students, postdocs, RAs and sessional staff
working in Media and Cultural Studies across Brisbane. Our meetings aim to
provide a regular platform for discussing issues which relate to these roles as
well as an opportunity to contribute to wider debates taking place in the
field.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>The MACS group is an attempt to create a space
for discussing everything to do with our work aside from the end product, to
share accumulated knowledge and resources to gain insight into the options
available within our field of research.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>October MACS</span></font></b><b><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-weight:bold'><br>
</span></b><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>12 October 2007, 2:30pm</span></font></b><b><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-weight:bold'> </span></b><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>–
4:00pm</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Seminar Room, Level Four, Centre for
Critical and Cultural Studies, The University of Queensland</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Special Guest: Prof John Quiggin</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>The final MACS for 2007 will take up the recent debates that have been
occurring in various places—notably on the Cult-Stud and Fibreculture
lists—about Facebook and other social networking sites, and address what
has become almost a mini-moral panic about the values and pressures of
maintaining an online presence through SNS, blogs, online publications, and so
on, and how this helps or impacts on our ability to research, write, and
develop professional contacts.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>As one comment on the Cult-Stud debate put</span></font><span
lang=EN-GB> </span><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>it:</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>"Apart from narcissism, the reason that people are prepared to
promote themselves on facebook, youtube, myspace and the like is because they
hope that by being in on the ground floor they will have a temporal advantage
over their competition and so get a little in front to sell their product,
which may be themselves. It's like those saddo phd students who do poster
sessions at those enormous us</span></font><span lang=EN-GB> </span><font
size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>conferences,
or who creep round the conference hotels in the early hours sticking their
inflated cvs (resumes) under the doors of sleeping professors. Harsh but true.
People don't like to have a sense of themselves that looks like that but it's
actually how people behave."</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>Mel Gregg describes this as “self-branding,” and while many
people voluntarily spend hours maintaining their online contacts, will those
who don’t be left behind? Is maintaining a credible online presence
something that postgrads and ECRs are now obliged to do as part of their
professional development, along with publishing, attending international
conferences, collecting glowing teaching evaluations, and getting
administrative experience?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>To address these and other questions, we have a</span></font><span
lang=EN-GB> </span><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>special guest speaker: Professor John Quiggin has
regularly been ranked as Australia’s most productive and highly-cited
economist. He is an ARC Federation Fellow in Economics and Political Science
based in the School of Political Science & International Studies at the
University of Queensland, and Director of the Risk and Sustainable Management
Group.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>John is perhaps best known however for his blog (<font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'><a href="http://johnquiggin.com/">http://johnquiggin.com</a></span></font>)
through which he has been commenting on Australian and world events for over
five years; his contributions to the highly-respected international
cultural/political blog, Crooked Timber (<font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'><a href="http://crookedtimber.org/">http://crookedtimber.org</a></span></font>);
and for his regular opinion pieces in <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The
Financial Review</span></i>.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>Please come along and join in the conversation.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>The aim of these events is to keep abreast of current debates in media
and cultural studies as well as to catch up with colleagues working around
Brisbane.<font color=navy><span style='color:navy'> More details here:</span></font></span></font><span
lang=EN-GB> </span><a
href="http://www.cccs.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=61795&pid=21774"><font
size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>http://www.cccs.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=61795&pid=21774</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Where</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>: CCCS
Seminar Room, Level 4, Forgan Smith Tower, St Lucia Campus, University of
Queensland, followed by drinks at the UQ staff club.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Getting here</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>: We
encourage people to use public transport to reach the University where possible</span></font><span
lang=EN-GB> </span><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>–</span></font><span lang=EN-GB> </span><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:navy'>see</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> here for more details<font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'>:</span></font></span></font><span
lang=EN-GB> </span><a href="http://www.translink.com.au/uq"><font size=2
face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>http://www.translink.com.au/uq</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align=right style='text-align:right'><font size=3 color="#339966"
face=Arial><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:#339966'>-------------------------------------------------------------</span></font><font
color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:Arial;color:navy'><br>
</span></font><font size=2 color="#339966" face=Arial><span lang=EN-US
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#339966'>John Gunders,
BA(Hons), MA, Grad Cert Education<br>
Project Officer, ARC Cultural Research Network<br>
Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies<br>
The University of Queensland<br>
(07) 3346 9765<br>
0402 650 628<br>
j.gunders@uq.edu.au<br>
www.uq.edu.au/crn/</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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