March 19, 2009, [MD]
It's that time again, when the semester is drawing to a close, and summer is soon upon us (at least those of us with a trimester system, which gives incredibly long summers). This year, it starts even earlier, because we don't have any exams at OISE. Next week, I am going to CIES in Charleston, then I am back for a week of classes, and then I am off to Beijing (via Hong Kong).
China will be my base this summer. Primarily, I will conduct field research for my project on OpenCourseWare in China, visiting universities and libraries etc. But I've also always wanted to spend some significant time in Beijing, and this time I should have two+ months to get to know the city, make some contacts, attend events etc. I would especially love to meet anyone involved with open source, Creative Commons, open culture, etc. Right now, I am trying to find a place to sublet there. I will also be doing brief travels to a few other cities to do research and see some old friends.
In June, I am going to Milan for ElPub 2009 (ironically, I missed it last year, when it was held at University of Toronto, because I was in India). I am also hoping to be able to attend the CERN workshop on Innovations in Scholarly Communication (OAI6) in Geneva, taking the train up there. This depends on whether my poster is accepted - if it is, I will get some of the registration fee subsidized by my school. If not, I will meet some old friends in Italy, and see how much of the language I've forgotten. I got an extremely good fare by the Emirates, which included a three day stop-over in Dubai, which I'ven ever visited before.
Back to China, and just in time to receive my family, who is arriving to partake in our wedding. Yes, we did get married in October in Toronto, but we're doing it again, this time with families from both sides,a nd hopefully many friends. It will be the first week of July in Zhanjiang, southern China, and we are sending out invitations this weekend.
After that, I am returning to Toronto on the 5th of August, and hoping to participate in the Open Education 2009 conference at UBC (Vancouver will be another first time for me). I will probably spend much of August both "wallowing in my data", as one of my professors said, and also working on a Student Experience Project with KMDI about Open Educational Resources. Then, in September, it's back to school - which is fun, because my advisor Ruth Hayhoe will be back, and offering two very interesting courses.
If anyone who reads this are along my "route" this summer, or anywhere in China, please let me know, since I'd love to meet up.
Stian
Stian Håklev March 19, 2009 Toronto, Canada comments powered by Disqus