PhD

I am pleased to report that the defense went well. Lopping letters off of my name (namely, the word "Candidate") has never felt so good.

Above, I am with my examination committee after the announcement.

From left to right: S. Poyntz (Chair), R. Onufrijchuk, Me, A. Travers (Internal), R.Smith (Senior), A. Feenberg, A. Holbrook, and B. Nardi (External, joining in via teleconference)

Thank you, everyone!

As more pictures manifest, they will be added to my flickr set. In the meantime, enjoy some of these from my camera>>

The next time I post will likely be from the Netherlands, where I am heading tomorrow. More on that soon.

Dissertation preview

What better way to begin the New Year, than with a dissertation teaser?

Here it is.

Title: Online games as a medium of cultural communication: An ethnographic study of sociotechnical transformation

• Introduction
• Methodology and Rationale
• The Rise of Korean Gaming
• Gaming: from Subculture to Mainstream
• Conclusion and Moving Forward

Abstract:

This dissertation explores the place and meaning of online games in everyday life. In South Korea, online games are a prominent part of popular culture and this medium has come under public criticism for various societal ills, such as addiction. Humanistic accounts of Information-Communication Technology (ICT) usage are still a minority body of research. All too often, the explanations for engagement with technology are reductionist to the most basic variables and the social aspects omitted in the name of science. An ethnographic approach is employed in order to understand the place of games as a communication medium.

Exactly how has it come to pass, that online games have come to occupy such a prominent place in the media ecology in South Korea, and yet not been replicated in other national contexts? First, I outline the discourse on addiction as it pertains to online games and suggest some scholarly support for the viewpoint that the rhetoric surrounding a biomedical interpretation of online game addiction may not be the most appropriate way to address problems that have been typically laid at the feet of online gaming (or any other new form of media). Second, I transition into discussing my rationale for approaching South Korea as a fieldsite, the ethnographic methodology employed, and how this examination of online games is a particularly illustrative case of the profound role played by culture, social structure, infrastructure, and policy in audience reception. Third, I delve into the foundational aspects of Korean social history and culture that I assert, set the stage for the present new media scene in South Korea. Fourth, I explore what games mean in the lives of Korean youth according to the ethnographic data I have been collecting during research stays in 2004, 2008/2009 and 2010.

Overall, this dissertation examines the contextual factors of which a medium of communication in the sociotechnical transformation of South Korea can begin to be understood within the porous boundaries of its national circumstances.

Keywords: Games; Ethnography; Korea; Addiction; Sociotechnical; Media; Anthropology; Communication; Culture; Social Structure; Infrastructure; Policy;

No idle hands here.

Greetings from Vancouver! Naturally, much has transpired between the last entry about CERN to the present... although I will be in Europe again in 3 weeks.

In the meantime, I have been answering these questions.

What did you do?
Why did you do it?
What happened?
What do the results mean in theory?
What do the results mean in practice?
What is the key benefit for the readers?
What remains unsolved?

More soon!

An embarrassment of riches

Now that it's back to school time, "So, how was your summer?" is the question to which I find myself spluttering short and unsatisfactory answers. In actuality though, lots of things have been chugging away in the background here at Constructing Amusement.

My summer included dissecting and writing up the data that I collected during my last field sojourn in Asia (Korea, Singapore, India, UAE, and Japan), a mini-burnout, and fleeing the city in search of wine and peaches. I'm only half-joking. With September and the school year underway though, it now feels appropriate to talk about my plans for the Fall. I feel like the dam has finally burst.

I am absolutely tickled to announce that I will be spending the next 6 months in Europe to do a, "Pre-Post-Doc," (as my supervisor playfully calls it). I have been awarded two separate and wonderful opportunities, ultimately courtesy of the European Commission and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BMWF).

First, I will head to TU Delft in the Netherlands where I have been appointed as an Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar for 3 months. Second, I will spend the 3 months following that in Graz, Austria at the IAS-STS as one of their Research Fellows, with additional support from an Ernst Mach Grant (Worldwide). The plan is to look at European contexts of games and play through my dissertation research focus of culture, social structure, and infrastructure (which has been my shtick for a while). The variety of perspectives and input I will gain at these institutions during this final stage of my dissertation writing will be invaluable, and will allow me to check my current assertions while examining the implications for future research contributions.

And, being in the area anyway, I will be presenting a paper on the ethics of informed consent at IR11 in Gothenburg, Sweden. So you should say hi if you're going to be there too, or if you want to find out more about that paper.

It's a busy time, and a crazy time preparing to head out. But who in their right mind would complain.

Happy Holidays from Constructing Amusement!

I'm writing this holiday greeting after having successfully written and defended my comprehensive exams as of yesterday. The lead up to it was only minorly reflected in this blog, and well... last week was kind of a blur. Though, I can say that at its worst I was hallucinating, seeing phantom glasses on my face and everything kinda looked green.

But I'm much better now.

Thankfully any pending deadlines for me are in the New Year, and I was ordered by my supervisor Richard to take a holiday before throwing myself into the dissertation. Oh, it'll be fun. So, my job for the next two weeks will be to unwind from the semester, wind up for the holiday hosting, and get that little voice in the back of my head that wants to talk about work to have some egg nog. ;) I'm finally noticing all the decorations, red, green, sparkle... when it had previously looked GREY.

Look for blogging of the festive sort this holiday, along with posts oriented around the constructing of a dissertation, to come in 2008. Until then, jingle jingle.