Eventyr

We Invent the Future of Interdisciplinary Research

I was annoyed with myself for being late to this session, as it was one I had been anticipating for a while. 

As my research is (rather wildly) interdisciplinary, and I lead a graduate class in interdisciplinary and group processes, it was certainly set to be of value to me.  Sadly the second half of the talk, the bit I made it to, didn't solve my problems with my research not being “computer science-y” enough, but then I think that is something I need to resolve through my own hard work. 

There were several interesting points that I leapt on however.

• You need to be stubborn.  To push a new field forward you need to be willing to go against the grain and not take things, or others opinions, as given truths.  Be willing to push for what you believe in.
• Fields move from 'out there' to interdisciplinary to accepted; cognitive science, HCI, AI, Gaming, Ubiquitous Computing, Bio-Informatics.
• It will always be hard to keep up with two fields at the same time.  This is never an easy path.
• Consider what your field is - how do the disciplines you work in contribute to this field?  How do they change perspective on the field?
• Read broadly, and remember to cultivate a network of people who can support you.

Some useful places to start:

• Design Research by Brenda Laurel
• Work on Ethnographic Interviewing by George Marcus
• ACM Digital Library and Citeseer
• Spinning in the library
• Anthro-design mailing list

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Johanna Hunt
Official GHC 2007 Blogger
You may comment on this blog by visiting the GHC Forum

Now You are an Associate Professor

This panel session was run by Tracy Camp (Colorado School of Mines), Joan Francioni (Winona State University), Mary Lou Soffa (University of Virginia) and Mary Jane Irwin (Penn State).

This was an odd session for me to attend.  I am not, and I probably never will be an Associate Professor.  This role doesn't exist in the same way in the UK, and so knowing what to do after I became one was perhaps a little unnecessary for me.   In an odd way everything under discussion was alien to me, and I had to work my head round the differences in the English and American Academic systems.  However, the talk was still interesting and there were many commonalities between the responsibilities of an academic in the UK and the US. I found myself taking copious notes.

The talk was split into three main sections 'Activities towards Promotion' (Mary Lou), 'Undergraduate Institutions' (Joan), and 'Achieving Leadership' (Mary Jane).

Mary Lou talked about role progression, and the responsibilities of teaching, research and scholarship and service and leadership once you have tenure.  I found myself fighting with two terms 'tenure' and 'service', both of which are established in the American academic lexicon but not in mine (I heard 'tenure' mentioned on House once, but I don't think that counts).  'Service' I established was just a term for administration, just more formally labelled and acknowledged.   I quite approve, as admin is a major part of any academics role. 

I vowed to look up tenure as soon as the lovely GHC-Juniper network connection started back up again, as I was struggling to understand what it meant beyond just being permanently employed by an institution.  Somehow your job is more secure?   I still fail to fully grasp it, and would love to have someone explain the underlying premise to me!  It seems like the concept of tenure would reduce movement of faculty between institutions, and leave departments somewhat stale.  (I am happy to be wrong on this point!)

Once you have Associate Professor status (and thereby tenure) you are free to do the things you would like to do.  You must be careful to:

• Balance teaching and research
• Not switch research areas
• Not take on too much admin and organisational work

Joan spoke about the differences in the skills needed to progress in research vs. undergraduate institutions.  This parallels the differences in the UK between teaching and research focussed universities.  In undergraduate institutions the focus is on excellence in teaching and scholarly activity as well as leadership.   I found it interesting that she noted that many undergraduate institutions tended to be more closely linked to the local community, and wondered whether this was true back home.  Is Brighton Uni more closely tied to the city than Sussex University?

Mary Jane spoke (and she admitted it was very US-centric) about leadership roles in research institutions.  It is worth watching out for roles which are too demanding, or might pull your focus.  After a detailed look at someone of the professional roles you could take on she made some clear points of advice, which I am sure are true everywhere:

• Be proactive
  • Let people know who you are and what you are doing
  • Be positive and confident
  • Prepare an elevator talk
  • Go after awards
• Make sure your webpage is up-to-date and professional!
• Stay focussed and keep your balance
• Don't forget to have a life
• And, afterwards, don't forget to pay it forward.

In the questions session, after a discussion around being explicit about your contribution in any collaboration, the topic was raised of saying 'no' (a common discussion point in my research group, and something I am notoriously bad at).

Saying no is important:

• Be clear
• Don't feel you have to
• Point out things you already do or suggest alternatives that would help your career
• Possibly show that you are willing to consider it for a few days before saying no.

All in all a very interesting talk, even for someone who is not an associate professor!

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Johanna Hunt
Official GHC 2007 Blogger
You may comment on this blog by visiting the GHC Forum

Bringing Women into the World of Games

Joining The Game was a panel session I slipped along to, and my first full session of the conference.  The panel was run by representatives of UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte and EA Games.  By the time I found the room it had already started, but I still managed to secure myself a good seat at the back.

I took brief notes, but found the many things being discussed interesting:

Why games? They can be used as both a way of teaching computer science and as a means to attract women into the field.  As per good ole Wittgenstein, we were asked to consider what defined our notion of a game, considering the (now classic) example of second life as still constituting a game. 

The panellists introduced the nature of working in the games industry; interdisciplinary and well-rounded experience with a strong need to be able to communicate both technically and non-technically.  To get into the industry you really need to be well rounded (as it is potentially the hardest area in computer science); able to create fun games and ideas, strong C or C++ programming skills, memory management, architecture, networking, game AI all being useful.

Wu's Castle sounded like an interesting example of using a game to teach for loops in programming, and it was mentioned to have proven significant learning games.  I am looking forward to hearing more about this in the future, as my department is keenly interested in games for teaching programming.

The future of gaming using pervasive technologies was briefly mentioned, especially for GPS on mobile devices.  I wish more had been said on this topic, beyond mention that there was currently only really one game of this type (possibly in Italy) so far.  It had me wanting to leap out of my seat and mention  the exciting possibilities with Loco...  But I refrained, as the queue for questions was longer than the time available.

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Johanna Hunt
Official GHC 2007 Blogger
You may comment on this blog by visiting the GHC Forum

Bridge Day

...and so we left Backstage Disney and headed back with weary feet.

Or is that the end?

My, this will be a long tale.

In the beginning there was Bridge Day, this magical thing that was given to us lucky few.  At least that was how I, and I'm fairly sure we, all felt.  It really had sounded like a gift of a day from the start, and with the scholarship having allowed me to even attend at all, it was the icing on the cake. 

Post jetlag and ready for Bridge Day I set off. We were divided into groups, A, B, C, Pink, Blue, Green.   By happy coincidence I was shipped out with the blue group....

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Our first stop was to listen to a Disney Logistics talk from three Disney developers entitled 'A Day in the Life of a Disney Developer'. 

First up we learned about the IT structure of Disney IT, about the Business Technology Partners and job roles and progressions.  I mused to myself that it was interesting they viewed IT development careers as leading to increasing mentoring roles to support those newer or less experienced.   This was a nice way to view senior roles; mentoring not managing.   I was not so pleasantly struck by the discovery that all Disney staff are called 'cast members', this was a new concept for me, but clearly one entrenched in the Disney culture. 

We then heard more about the Disney development lifecycle (a topic which fascinated me but I'll not blather on about it here) and this was followed by a series of short demos.

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Then lunch, which I would have enjoyed more had it not been tempered by my realisation I had lost my phone.  It isn't just needed for twitter; it is my camera, alarm clock and back-up email reader.  Mid-way through the talk on Disney Imagineering, and the excellent sounding ImagiNations competition (which I wish I had known about while I still qualified), I realised where my phone must be.  Under that table, over there.  I admit I was distracted, biding my time until I could cross the room, whip up the tablecloth and look under.

Fortunately by the time the talk finished and I fought my way against the tide over there it had been discovered and placed on the table.  It was a quick find and my peace of mind was saved for a brief while.

Fortunately I found it just in time to take photos of our traipsing out for the group photo.

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Then we were whisked off to Epcot (my first time!) where we got to hear all about the little exciting things they do with technology.  I'm a fan of ubiquitous computing, so became quite excited when they moved on from talking about the biometrics they use for ticket verification to ways they are using infrared and wifi technology to create a more interactive environment. Epcot has 90% wifi coverage which makes POS systems which can be linked up to your room card, or cameras which can upload images to a central store accessible to all, possible and usable.  They use RFID tagged cards to monitor queue times, and infra red ipods, headphones, and 'Pal Mickey' plush speaking toys to create an interactive experience (language options available) around the site.

And then we got to go on Mission: Space.  I bypassed all the repeated and repeated warnings about motion sickness etc, and went for the orange 'more intense' version.  On getting in I realised I was afraid.  Not for me you understand, but for the precious thing in my bag, my laptop.  I'd taken my laptop on the ride with me.  Oops.  All the warnings flashed back through my mind.   ...and we were off.

(Thankfully, and I'm ruining the story here, I'm now typing on it perfectly well and all is fine.).

It was a good ride, not the most stressful or scary, just pleasant.

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The final stage of our journey was to the Magic Kingdom. I loved the opportunity to go on the Haunted Mansion ride and see the Disney that I had heard about since I was a child. 

I also really enjoyed the chance to go backstage but, as they say, what happens at Backstage Disney stays at Backstage Disney. 

(Either my lips are sealed, or I have just written much too much about Disney for now.)

...and so we left Backstage Disney and headed back with weary feet.

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After arriving back late, we rushed into the introductory talk then on to the reception and posters.  Phew, what a day!

And well worth it.  It was a lovely opportunity and lovely to have been allowed to participate.

 

The day is done.  Now I just need to find time to go through all the photos I took!

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Johanna Hunt
Official GHC 2007 Blogger
You may comment on this blog by visiting the GHC Forum

Lacking Initiative but Inventing the Future

6. Give the female employee a definite daylong schedule of duties so that they will keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.

11 Tips on How to Handle Women Employees taken from the 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine (Via The Presurfer)

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I'm getting quite excited in the run up to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.  I am so glad I got a full scholarship to attend.  I admit I'm a bit nervous about being one of their official bloggers, but that just means it is tIme to polish my words, develop some opinions and confirm my daylong schedule of duties so I can do some thinking in advance. (Although I may lack the initiative for the latter, or so I understand from the above.)   

GHC

I have been awarded a full scholarship to travel and attend the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2007!

This trip to Orlando will mark my second-ever trip to the states and my first to Florida.  I fear Disney, but am greatly looking forward to the conference.