The 2009 Compass Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference

FREE SPECIAL ISSUE: Papers from the 2009 Compass Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference

Kivmars Bowling (Acquisitions & Innovations Editor) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:05:58 +0000

We are delighted to announce the publication of a Special Issue made up of papers presented at the 2009 Compass Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference. The following papers are now AVAILABLE FOR FREE until January 2011!

Communicating about Communication: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Educating Educators about Language Variation (pages 245–257)
Christine Mallinson and Anne H. Charity Hudley

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(99K) | References

Beyond ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’: Breaking Down Binary Oppositions in Holocaust Representations of ‘Privileged’ Jews (pages 407–418)
Adam Brown

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(92K) | References

Language and Communication in the Spanish Conquest of America (pages 491–502)
Daniel Wasserman Soler

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(87K) | References

Equal Representation of Time and Space: Arno Peters’ Universal History (pages 718–729)
Stefan Müller

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(168K) | References

Recycling Modernity: Waste and Environmental History
Tim Cooper

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(86K) | References

A Hybrid Model of Moral Panics: Synthesizing the Theory and Practice of Moral Panic Research (pages 295–309)
Brian V. Klocke and Glenn W. Muschert

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(105K) | References

Borderlands Studies and Border Theory: Linking Activism and Scholarship for Social Justice (pages 505–518)
Nancy A. Naples

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(101K) | References

Cultural Sociology and Other Disciplines: Interdisciplinarity in the Cultural Sciences (pages 169–179)
Diana Crane

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(90K) | References

Fertility and Inequality Across Borders: Assisted Reproductive Technology and Globalization (pages 466–475)
Eileen Smith-Cavros

Abstract | Full Article (HTML) | PDF(80K) | References

Battle of the Bands Result

philipsmith — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:25:24 +0000

We are pleased to announce that the votes are in and the results are as follows:

Lychesis 7 votes

The Real Roscoes: 9 votes

London James: 12 votes

Housepopes: 25 votes

and our winner

Fracture Pattern: 60 votes

Congratulations to Andy and the guys, and thank you to everyone involved for taking part.

The Conference Ends without Closing…

Liam Cooper (Managing Editor) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:30:12 +0000

Now that we’ve come to the end, the Compass team would like to say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to everyone who has participated and made our first virtual conference an overwhelming success. The authors and presenters have been, without exception, engaging and professional to the last. We’d also like to extend a special note of thanks to our virtual attendees, who have kept the discussions alive with insightful commentary, and their openness to explore issues across disciplines.

There will be no new content uploaded to the site after Friday 30th October, but there is still much to discuss. All of the presentations and comments will remain on the website indefinitely, and we’d encourage you all to keep engaging with the content so long as there are issues to be explored, and interdisciplinary barriers to be broken down! If you sign up to receive email alerts of new comments, you can keep up with any ongoing conversations.

We sincerely hope you have enjoyed the conference – here are some things that you can do to stay in touch:

Check out the Compass journals and recommend to your librarian. Researchers, teaching faculty, and advanced students will all benefit from the accessible, informative articles that provide overviews of current research. Personal subscriptions are now also available.
Complete the post-conference opinion survey, coming to you next week. Your thoughts will help us make decisions about future conferences.
If you have suggestions, or even just a short comment, you can pop it in our Suggestion Box or Email us
Access the Publishing Workshops and Keynotes via iTunes (as from the conference website). The raw feed for the podcasts can be found here.
Share our keynote video lectures via our Vimeo channel
Tell others about your experience of the conference!

Final reminder: your 20% book discount token is valid until 15th November, so visit the book exhibit before then.

Until next time…?

Thanks again,

The Compass Team
www.blackwell-compass.com

Winning Comment 29th October

philipsmith — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:30:07 +0000

We are pleased to announce that our final winning comment comes from Vicky Nesfield on Adam Brown’s essay Beyond Good and Evil. Congratulations to Vicky, who wins a free Wiley-Blackwell book.

Publishing Workshop: How to Survive the Review Process

compasseditorial — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:00:03 +0000

By Greg Maney, Associate Professor of Sociology, Hofstra University

In this podcast Greg shares his experiences with the review process and offers practical suggestions to help make your experience a constructive and rewarding one!

Once you have listened to our podcast let us know what you think!

Do you have any questions or comments for our speaker? If so please comment below…and don’t forget to take part in our poll!

Listen to Podcast

Download Transcript

View This Poll

Conference Paper: Constructing an interdisciplinary concept of sustainable urban milieu

Kivmars Bowling (Acquisitions & Innovations Editor) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:06 +0000

Nicole Mathieu
(CNRS, University of Paris)

To read this article and its associated commentary for free just click on the PDF link below.

Mathieu PDF

Commentary PDF - J. Salomon Cavin (University of Lausanne)

In order to post your comment and response, please use the comments box at the bottom of this post. All comments are moderated and will appear shortly after they are submitted.

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Abstract

Taking Sartre’s philosophy as a starting point, our paper is both theoretical and action oriented. It aims to promote the development of adequate scientific practices required by the sustainable development utopia. To this end, it is written as a manifesto designed to stimulate debate and controversy. It attempts a review of all that is being said and done in the name of sustainable development in the political domain as well as that of the relation between social sciences and politics. This paper calls for a consideration of the difficulties, and even the impossibilities, of moving “from the utopia to the concepts”. Introducing and articulating the almost contradictory dimensions of sustainability in real urban territory demands the development of a relevant method in order to investigate this complex object. We propose the concept of a “socially sustainable milieu” in order to reach this objective which requires the interdisciplinary pairing of physical and social sciences. Modelling and GIS must be associated with anthropological methods. Above all, this paper underlines the need to set “inhabitants” at the heart of the scientific project. This reverses the usual focus by starting with an investigation of the way each individual reconciles the “three pillars” of sustainable development and builds their own relationship with sustainable urban milieus. This may help bypass the still top-down views of governance and enable scientists to contribute to developing the political sustainable utopia in real sites and situations.

Winning Comment 28th October

Liam Cooper (Managing Editor) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:48:16 +0000

We are pleased to announce that yesterday’s winning comes from Sharon Chong on Diana Crane’s paper entitled Cultural Sociology and Other Disciplines: Interdisciplinarity in the Cultural Sciences. Congratulations to Sharon, who wins a free Wiley-Blackwell book. Today is your final chance to win, so make your views heard!

Conference Paper: Climate–Suicide Relationships: A Research Problem in Need of Geographic Methods and Cross‐Disciplinary Perspectives

Kivmars Bowling (Acquisitions & Innovations Editor) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:00:53 +0000

P. Grady Dixon
(Mississippi State University)
and
Adam J Kalkstein
(United States Military Academy):

To read this article and its associated commentaries for free just click on the PDF links below.

Dixon & Kalkstein PDF

Commentary 1 PDF - Scott Greene (University of Oklahoma)

Commentary 2 PDF - Victoria Likhvar (National Institute for Environmental Studies)

Commentary 3 PDF - Neville Nicholls (Monash University)

Commentary 4 PDF - Darren Ruddell (Arizona State University)

In order to post your comment and response, please use the comments box at the bottom of this post. All comments are moderated and will appear shortly after they are submitted.

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Abstract

Many locations on Earth experience peaks in suicide rates during the late spring and early summer, and there is evidence that climatic variables may be causal factors. Beyond this seasonal characteristic, there is little consistency in the results of various climate–suicide studies. Almost all of the published climate–suicide research has been conducted by mental health experts with relatively little input from geographers and ⁄ or climatologists, thus highlighting the need for future collaborative efforts. Previous research has shown how the use of a single statistical method, as opposed to multiple methods, can yield misleading or confusing results. Future research on climate–suicide relationships should allow for more consideration for spatial and temporal variations in climate, culture, demographics, etc. Ultimately, improved methods and the use of cross-disciplinary methods will help arrive at consistent results that identify climate variables that significantly affect suicide rates, if any exist.

Keynote Lecture – ‘Reading Beowulf in the Ruins of Grozny’ By Eileen Joy

Liam Cooper (Managing Editor) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:11 +0000

Speaker: Professor Eileen Joy (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Full title: Reading Beowulf in the Ruins of Grozny: Pre/modern, Post/human, and the Question of Being-Together

Discipline: Literature

Downloads

Audio
Transcript

Our special thanks go to Eddie Van Wessel for generously allowing us to include his breathtaking photography of Grozny in this video. All of these images belong to ©Eddy van Wessel Photography: any publication only after his explicit permission.

Thre rest of this video is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. Official license

Presentations for October 29

vlafaye — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:20:19 +0000

Keynote: Eileen Joy (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville): Reading Beowulf in the Ruins of Grozny: Pre/modern, Post/human, and the Question of Being‐Together

Paper: P. Grady Dixon (Mississippi State University) & Adam J Kalkstein (United States Military Academy): Climate–Suicide Relationships: A Research Problem in Need of Geographic Methods and Cross‐Disciplinary Perspectives
Commentators:
Scott Greene (University of Oklahoma)
Victoria Likhvar (National Institute for Environmental Studies)
Neville Nicholls (Monash University)
Darren Ruddell (Arizona State University)

Paper: Nicole Mathieu (CNRS, University of Paris): Constructing an interdisciplinary concept of sustainable urban milieu

Publishing workshop: Greg Maney (Hofstra University): How to Survive the Review Process