Calling all VW grad students...
The Grad Student Symposium @ State of Play
New York Law School’s Institute for
Information Law and Policy is delighted (ecstatic, actually) to announce the
first Graduate Student Symposium for the Serious
Study of Virtual Worlds at the State
of Play VI Conference.[1]
So, we hear you ask, what is this
unimaginatively titled symposium?
It’s like this:
State of Play was the
first conference on virtual worlds, started way back in 2003. It represented a kind of Woodstock
moment for many of us who had just begun the serious study of virtual worlds. Since then we’ve run the conference
every year (or so) and we’re now up to number six (or “VI” if, like us, you’re
big fans of the Superbowl). This year's conference will once again attract speakers and attendees
from business, industry, a variety of academic areas, representing a diverse
array of viewpoints. We wanted to leverage the opportunity of the conference to
gather together the next group of researchers in virtual worlds. VWs are now mainstream enough to
attract funding and grad students, and we wanted to take this opportunity to
collect as many of you together to talk about your fields of study, and for you
to exchange ideas with the older guard who have had to confront the disbelief
and difficulties that studying games and online spaces tends to generate. We hope to help this new guard build
networks and community, like, well, you know, the way academia is supposed to
work.
The Symposium will run on June 18, 2009,
immediately before the two days of the main State
of Play conference. All
attendees at the Symposium will be able to attend the Conference as part of
their Symposium registration. The
format of the Symposium will be a series of roundtable discussions and
small-scale presentations, to be worked out once we know who is coming and what
they want to do. A draft program
will be available early in May. The
basic idea is to have grad students present and discuss their work, and receive
commentary and criticism from the graybeards. There will be learned debate, and discussion. There may be music and dancing. There will be alcohol.
In order to make this happen the IILP has
engaged in some very creative accounting and is going to make a number of
scholarships available to grad students to help with the costs of attending. The basic support will be:
1.
Free symposium registration for the Symposium on June 18. Free meals
during the Symposium. (Breakfast/lunch/dinner).
AND
2.
Free State of Play VI Conference
registration for June 19-20. Free meals during the Conference
(Breakfast/lunch/dinner on 19th, breakfast/lunch on 20th)
AND
EITHER:
3.a.
Free lodging in shared (double) grad student hostel (probably on Upper West
Side, maybe Williamsburg, we’re still working on this), for the nights of June
17-June 20;
OR
3.b. Significant help (up to about $500 or so, depending on how much
everyone else costs) with airfare.
We anticipate being able to offer between 15
and 20 scholarships. To apply for
a scholarship please send (1) a 200-300 word précis of the research you want to
present; (2) a resume, (3) the names of a couple of academic recommenders who
can vouch for your work, and (4) a description of your first pet,[2]
to:
Ms
Naomi Allen
Administrator,
Institute for Information Law & Policy
New
York Law School
57
Worth Street
New
York NY 10013
Applications close on April 30, 2009, but
applications will be processed on a rolling basis from April 14, 2009. If you
need an early decision to arrange travel then please get your application in
early and let us know of the urgency.
Regular registration for the Symposium will be available once we’ve
processed the scholarship applications.
We look forward to seeing you in New York on
June 18.
Questions about the Symposium or the scholarships
can be addressed to:
Prof. Dan Hunter
Director, Institute for Information Law & Policy
New York Law School
[1] Yes, we know this is an ugly mouthful, but you’re gonna have to live with it until you come up with a catchier name. For the moment we’ll just call it GSS4SSVW1@SoP6. Simple huh?
[2] The
description should note how cute they are/were, how sad you were when they
died/were spayed, etc. Make us say
“awww” or make us cry; but make us feel
something. If you have never had a
pet, then send us your SSN and an essay describing your deepest fears.
Is the story about the pet to make sure I'm not a replicant?
Posted by: Adam Hyland | Apr 27, 2009 at 22:22
Actually no. If you were a replicant you would have a memory implanted about your childhood pet.
But, while I have you, imagine that it's a baking hot day and I have a turtle in front of me...
Posted by: Dan Hunter | Apr 28, 2009 at 10:54
Ahh, but the prompt hints at empathy. :)
Also, it was a tortoise. But it's the same thing as a turtle, Leon.
Posted by: Adam Hyland | Apr 28, 2009 at 13:43