Book Lists for my Spring 2009 Courses

PS 545 American Political Thought
(click here for the Amazon list & purchasing links for these titles)
Lawrence Lessig Free Culture ISBN: 978-0143034650 $15 ($10.20 Amazon) PBK
James Boyle  The Public Domain ISBN: 978-0300137408 $28.50 ($18.81 Amazon) HBK
Chuck Palahniuk  Fight Club ISBN: 978-0393327342 $13.95 ($11.16 Amazon) PBK
Warren Ellis  Crooked Little Vein ISBN: 978-0061252051 $13.95 ($11.86 Amazon) PBK
Tom Boellstorff  [...]

The Future of Higher Ed #1: Accrediting Individuals, Not Institutions

I’ve been thinking a lot about Higher Education lately, specifically future scenarios mapping probable and preferable trajectories for universities. One thing that continues to be a real point of concern is the issue of accreditation – the process by which universities and colleges are certified by outside institutions to provide degrees. The current system is [...]

Helpful Advice for Recent College Graduates

One of the really difficult things about being a college teacher is that, after being back for a few years now and getting to know many students on a personal level, I’ve begun to have several students come to me and say “Dr. Rice, I’m graduating in a few weeks. What do I do now?” [...]

The Realities of Being a Writer in the Age of New Media

As always, Tony Pierce is the man. Here’s what he had to say to a group of young aspiring Journalists the other day (straight from the legendary BusBlog):
i said you might come into the office and they look at you and say, can you make it to LAX to interview the CEO of Virgin and [...]

Recommendation for PS 235 Summer 2008

Attention Conservation Notice: This post is intended for UK Students looking for a good class to take in the summer. If you’re not a UK student, please ignore. Thanks.
Summer classes are a great opportunity to pick up a USP requirement or a pre-major course in a small classroom environment. It’s one reason why I enjoy [...]

Good Morning, Internet! (A Word from Our Sponsor)

And now, I’m ready to go out and teach! +10 to motivation!

Second Life at UK & PS 545 American Political Thought

Since a few of you have been asking, the url for the PS 545 American Political Thought wiki is http://ps545spring08.wikispaces.com. It’s where the class members are keeping their journals and group projects for the digital ethnography project.
You can also find out more about what’s going on at UK’s Second Life Island by visiting http://ukisland.wordpress.com. there’s [...]

Slideshow of my UK Second Life Island Presentation

For those of you who were unable to make it to the Totally Awesome University of Kentucky Second Life Island Grand Opening (whew!) last Thursday, here is the slideshow from my presentation.

Note: I’m not referring to such things as PowerPoint anymore. I’m using Keynote exclusively these days. And with other tools getting more popular all [...]

UK Second Life Island Grand Opening Thursday

Just wanted to post this invitation to UK’s Grand Opening for its Second Life Island on Thursday afternoon. I’ll be giving a brief talk as part of a panel at 2pm at the WT Young Library Auditorium. You can participate in events in Real Life or Second Life all afternoon. I hope to see you [...]

Cat Herding and Taking PS 545 Students on a Second Life Field Trip

My PS 545 American Political Thought class is doing a major Digital Ethnography project in Second Life this semester. To get everyone on the same page, we went on a “digital field trip” in the lab the other week,

and had some fun deconstructing the meth lab simulation on UK Island. That’s me in the all-black [...]