Cons and Conferences

This week had both: first on Wednesday my colleague Kim Middleton and I went to a conference on Visual and Information Literacy in Massachusetts. Among the speakers was Henry Jenkins, who had some very thought-provoking things to say and some terrific exempla at his program's site, New Media Literacies. I have been inspired to try to incorporate more on these topics into my courses. Students are passive consumers of media -- they need to be more critical, but it's our job to give them the tools.

Then last night we went to the first night of Albacon, the local sf/f con. Among the highlights -- the ice cream social! Hood ice cream, all kinds of toppings and hot fudge sauce. I went to a panel on incorporating characters outside the mainstream, and later joined Gene at a panel on Kubrick's 2001 which proved full of diverse opinions.

We had a little time before things got rolling to walk around downtown and see a few sights, including of course the Egg: