The 3L Mantra to live by!

Policy-making is political theatre. No doubt about it. That which is not behind closed doors is posturing. But rather than condemn posturing, we should try to understand it. After all, it serves a purpose. It makes public the intent to create buy-in as well as detect common resistances. Conferences oriented towards policy-making are hardly about making decisions then and there. It's about feeling the pulse, NOT of the generic public per se, but about key stakeholders in the game. So with this higher education reform conference in Amman that I was part of, ministers, deans, professors, private education consultants, ed publishers and others congregated for a period of 3 days to discuss key problems and solutions for higher ed reform. About 500 delegates including from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and others in the region took part in this process. It was an impressive turn out of card touting and name dropping. It was true to form, a networking event. All this should not surprise. Jor

It’s like a James Bond film really: indoor palm trees, high ceilings, limestone walls, sheiks in long white robes helping themselves to a luxurious breakfast buffet at the Le Royal hotel ; the chatty cab driver who tells me that he has friends everywhere and a Maltese girlfriend waiting for him at home. Military men with guns (well, not flowers obviously), guarding precious property…hang on, the property is the American University! Nothing invites students so enticingly as the nozzle of the gun. The only deviation from this sexy storyline is that we are here for a higher education reform conference. From exciting thriller to drama (or documentary perhaps), the term “education” has a way of sobering this momentum. This is a collaboration between Columbia Middle East Research Center and the Jordanian government. Columbia University , much like several universities in the US, is eager to gain an academic foothold in the Middle East and capture a new consumer base of young doe-eyed stud

At the Thousand Oaks conference panel on Social responsibility of Mass Media, there was an interesting discussion about government regulation. A renowned media scholar brought up the “Google exit from China” as an example of how State regulation can indeed have dire consequences for its own population. This professor regurgitated what most media agencies have been propounding on this issue - Google left China after supposed multiple clashes with the Chinese government regarding censorship of its search engine. The Chinese people lost out and ethics won apparently: Drummond , the Senior VP, corporate development and chief legal officer of Google announced the following: We had uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being routinely accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on their computers. We also made clear that these attacks and the surveillance they uncovered—combined with

Am on the road right now, but not quite Up-In-The-Air style. From Amsterdam to Thousand Oaks (near LA but as argued by some, “far” from LA as possible), I’m doing the conference circuit, the social life of many academics. After all, here’s a willing audience for your obscure Whitehead reference and hand-punctuated intellectualism. And if you thought Marxism is dead, you’ve evidently not attended enough academic conferences. Impossible ideals are preserved in the confines of academia, a natural fodder for multiple critiques of real world practice, leading to publications and sustenance of passion from the vantage point of the beloved armchair. Don’t get me wrong; I l ove armchairs. It’s comfortable, and allows for a respectable pause for reflection and pontification. Of course, I like it even better when we’ve earned the temporary rest through actual experience but then, if that were always the case, whom would we have left to mock? So what was this conference about? Well, besides the

Walking down memory lane makes you stumble on not just your lived life but also, that which is lived by others. Memories of being 18, of yearning for utopia, of being completely and utterly immersed in learning comes flashing back and Buckminster Fuller, the renaissance thinker, designer, innovator, and teacher, is very much part of this. His grand ideas of dome homes around the world may not have taken off the way he envisioned but it surely inspires! He instills play and humor in spaces of living, a rare feat! Of course what's even more astonishing is how his geodesic design traveled to the most unexpected of places: I encountered the geodesic dome when I was on a work project in Pondicherry, India in 2004 (see pic 1). This "perfect geometric unity" design was used by Aurovilleans , an experimental community to create their space of "sacredness". Be it hippies in Marin, California to refugee camps or UN "tent cities," there's nothing like a loud

It's been almost a year since I left New York for the Netherlands. In fact, almost 15 years since I left India for the "West" (San Francisco, New York and Boston...got addicted to paying high taxes but apparently not high enough as I decided after all to come to the Netherlands ;-) So, what do I know about the Dutch by now? In danger of reinforcing stereotypes n all, I plunge in... 1) They surely love to smoke. Smoking and cycling seem to be the national commuting style, with no helmets on of course. And this picture comes in family size too- often, a couple of babies are packed in at the front and the back to celebrate the economics of cycling ! 2) They do love their flowers although admittedly not the flower festival as much...I think they surrendered Keukenhof , their annual flower fest to the tourists, willingly might I add. Why on earth they wonder would they PAY to see flowers? Only the dumb tourists and expats like myself would do something so silly. Of course tho

In another recent book chapter, Global Education Greenhouse: Constructing and Organizing online Global knowledge , Karen and I delve into the possibility of online collaboration in the makings of global knowledge. We were really astounded by how insular our educational systems are in spite of so much talk on globalization! While companies are merging and partnerships across industries are happening across borders that were unthinkable even a decade ago, somehow our educational system continues to be very "local"...very nationalistic. How do we make education globally relevant and applicable? Can we inspire students to think transnationally and cross-culturally? How is global thinking related to innovation? We basically acknowledge that there is a crisis in our current educational system as we are poorly preparing our students for this global era. Tye states that "global awareness will become the first new basic skill of the twenty-first century, as computer literacy ha

My book chapter/ case study on academic plagiarism just recently came out - " Copycats of the Central Himalayas: Learning in the age of Information ." Basically, I spent about 8 months in Almora, a rur-town in Central Himalayas, investigating what people do with the Internet. Given that cybercafes had sprung up relatively recently, I volunteered to work for one in exchange of playing witness to internet usage. It was amazing as I really actually pictured people to be using it for the usual browsing and entertainment oriented stuff. Instead, I became an active accomplice to plagiarism by college students - open, active, ingenious plagiarism! Of course as soon as one says "plagiarism," academics and others get all hassled about it, frothing in the mouth about it immorality, the decline of this generation and more. Rather than focus on the "pathological" reasons why students do what they do, I thought it would be worth stopping and asking how on earth did t

Will power ...what a burden! We sweat the small stuff a lot. We have to constantly exercise our Will to abstain from that extra slice of pie, from being "uncool" by wanting to stay home on a Saturday night watching Youtube, or just calling home to check in. Individualism can suck sometimes. Blame is rarely distributed. There's a reason why we say "exercise" your will...it's pure and simple work. Sometimes, however, society orchestrates an opportunity to take a break. And BREAK it is! Queens day in the Netherlands is one such moment in time! Thousands of people blind you with their orange glory as they sweep through Amsterdam. High on pot, techno and a vague reminder of being Dutch AND low on foot-estate, the mob has come to celebrate their Queen Beatrix and her conveniently timed birthday. (although born on January 31, the weather and her highness pushes this date to May 30th, allowing for orange neon bikinis, rave street parties and blood sporting bargain

Have you wondered why certain sayings are phrased one way versus another? Why do we NOT say "act outside the box?" and instead push "thinking" to venture out? Coloring outside the lines is said to be good at times..but we are never told to redraw those lines. Boxes can be turned inside out but it's still the box. We need that box. "How does one do it? " asked a student the other day; "we try so hard to get away from the 'structure' but it's so dominant and all...it's hard to escape!" Students already referring to "society" as "structure" means that she is paying attention in class...not bad, not bad at all! Taking theory and applying it to one's life to grapple about one's own existence is even better. This is the age of the tortured soul. It is a privilege to pause, ponder, probe. It is an achievement to recognize that we' re within a particular confinement. If we know the rules, we can play wi

Can't blame corporations for packaging culture. Anything to make a deal. It's that slight edge that you get in knowing that you cannot discuss business over dinner in Argentina or that it's not done to address your Korean client by her first name. Nuances infuse relationships. Missed nuances apparently can cost you your contract or sour your business partnership. In fact, management gurus and experts have done a great job in infusing paranoia about cultural misunderstandings in the business circuit... "... the single greatest barrier to business success is the one erected by culture. " Edward T. Hall and Mildred Reed Hall Metaphors lace this paranoia: "Culture is like an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg is easy to see. This includes the visible aspects and do's and taboos of working in other cultures. The remaining huge chunk of the iceberg hidden below the surface includes the invisible aspects of a culture such as the values, traditions, experiences and

This is no joke. Believe it or not, there are "Culturally sensitive Quizzes" out there to train you to perform better in business across different cultures and nations. It's so stereotypical that it should crack you up (although obviously not intending to do so); Try it out. Check out Kwintessential ================================================= QUESTIONS SAMPLE: Cross-Cultural Quiz on Islam 1. On which day would you expect to get least business done in Muslim countries? Friday Saturday Sunday 2. Which of these would make the best gift for a Muslim client? Silk tie Perfume Watch 3. The teachings of Islam emanated from which modern day country? Palestine Saudi Arabia Egypt 4. During negotiations your counterpart keeps saying 'inshaAllah' (God willing) to each of your requests. What should you do? Accept the 'inshaAllah' mentality Demand some firm commitments Repeat the phrase but try and establish some concrete agreements 5. What is the name of the hol

I love stereotypes! Granted, it ruffles quite a few feathers and often for good reason. The Italians want you to know that they're more than just a bowl of pasta; the Dutch insist that they don't walk around in clogs holding tulips to their face; and the Canadians well, would appreciate it if you stopped calling them American. We expend much time and energy on how stereotypes offend. However, it's time for a new kind of PR for stereotypes. So I proclaim the following: STEREOTYPES BOND US TOGETHER Really. So listen up... One day, Paddy Irishman, Paddy Englishman, and Paddy Scotsman walked into a pub together. They proceeded to each buy a pint of Guinness. Just as they were about to enjoy their creamy beverage, three flies landed in each of their pints and got stuck in the thick head. Paddy Englishman pushed his beer away from him in disgust. Paddy Scotsman fished the offending fly out of his beer and continued drinking it as if nothing had happened. The Irishman, too, picke

Online anonymity is overrated. Trust. The "real" and the "fictitious" identity socialize in cyberspace. Deception online may not be a morality issue when everybody is doing it; when everybody EXPECTS you to do it; and sometimes, mass deception becomes fantasy, when everybody WANTS you to do it. When it becomes routine social practice, it becomes the norm. Masquerades become carnivals, become temporary and recurring pleasure. "tootsie23@" tells her story for everybody to read. Is it really relevant to know how authentic "tootsie23@" is? Can we use the same moral compass that we apply to books and journals, newspapers and all other kinds of conventional print to online pontifications? The sacredness of print reminds us of its age, its stature - it provides the comfort zone. Even in masquerades, when we reveal ourselves in plain sight, we are still part of the carnival. We are still playing a part. As long as the carnival is going on, we are seen i

An enthusiastic student comes into my office - he's one of those die hard Apple fanatics, the lifeblood of this industry. This fruit lover makes a compelling case to transform academia for the students through simple Apple software. He wants to tape the lectures through his camcorder and upload it on the Apple video site for students to watch and learn. He argues (point well taken) that students can refresh their memories on certain concepts covered in class and basically grasp material better. He says that he gets that universities are inherently bureaucratic and for immediate action, students need to take initiative. He promises that students will appreciate getting this material through a range of mediums and applications -podcasts to Facebook, listening as they commute or when cramming in study groups. Yes. So true. Although nothing original here actually. It's already being done in some universities, albeit the sexy brands expanding their reach through new media. TED speak

You trade coffee, tea, spices, rubber...you trade music, art, film; human traffic as commodity and more...what I don't expect is the import of national histories for tourism! Let me explain my bafflement here. In the Ardennes mountain region of Belgium, one with a long and complex history where the battle of the Bulge for instance took place, it has a little town. Within that town, a monument dedicated to the victims of the Ardennes offensive sits right next to a 'Red Indian' paraphernalia shop, one that has been around for apparently several years. Instead of battle of the Bulge souvenirs, you can take home feathered headdresses, cowboy hats and Indian chokers... History rewritten through urban planning and design!

Easter weekend is here . Out hops the stuffed bunnies in all shapes and sizes; they hang from windows, perch happily at mall cafes and frame chocolate isles of supermarkets. Its not a sin to be furry and cute. Its their duty. Their presence is considered appropriate to mark this ritual event. In fact, we expect kitsch to be at places of common ground only to reinforce our social distance from it. The masses allow for the elite to exist. So it is no wonder that one feels unnerved when one sees these creatures in their furry glory infiltrate your exclusive moments at what you consider a classy Belgian restaurant. While a real French speaking hostess serves a four course meal and punctuates your dinner at strategic times to make sure your wine glass is full, you see Easter kitsch seep through EVERYWHERE! As you sit by the window, a wonderful landscape view of the hills of the Ardennes is tainted by a nest of eggs on your table; a humble potted plant is violated by gaudy yellow feathers

I ask my students if they are planning on going to the Keukenhof, the world's largest flower garden spectacle. They justifiably don't understand my pronunciation until a kindly soul who has mastered the deciphering of my butchered Dutch words rephrases the question for the class. "Thats only for old people and tourists," remarks one, followed by unanimous nods from across the room. I inform them that I just bought my tickets. In this masterful, single-handed stroke, I have just underlined in their minds how old I actually am! I take this further. I ask my Dutch colleagues if they are going to the Keukenhof. They ask why would they? They ruthlessly disrupt my definition of this event as an "older Dutch sport" as absolutely lacking evidence and foundation. Not ONE 'older' Dutch colleague has been to it nor plans to go. It's not like people here don't like flowers. On the contrary. This is a flower-loving nation. Its inherently unfair that the h

How sentimental we can get of the good old days where you could ring the bell of your neighbor for a cup of sugar or stop the policeman to ask how his family is doing. Actually, this is the marketed nostalgia many of us have grown up with; a world of yesteryear where what is now seen as impossible was once, possible and for all probably reasons, true and genuine. We yearn for a packaged past that has been sold to us. Today, we crave community and desperately glorify city youth intermingling and dependencies as a new “ urban tribe ” behavior– a reassembling of family affiliations and sentiments into a more channeled and contemporary neo-familial relationship based on raw and selfish need. Social networking sites resemble an online tribal dance. But the underling premise here is that these “old” community patterns have been reinvented on cyberspace. Yet, if you stop and think, perhaps you may struggle like myself to remember the warm sentiments and comfort of the strangers of the past;

Bloggers beware. You thought you were writing for a bunch of info addicts or a grannie with ten cats but alas, you may actually be writing for a far different audience. Be it your instruction manual on how to make a good burrito or your pontifications on the latest video of Lady Gaga and Beyonce, your musings are becoming more and more deeply relevant to your new audience…the computer. You, my dear blogger have given computers a new lease to life! “…the web could be mined to track information about emerging trends and behaviours, covering everything from drug use or racial tension to interest in films or new products. The nature of blogging means that people are quick to comment on events in their daily lives. Mining this sort of information might therefore also reveal information about exactly how ideas are spread and trends are set.” – The Economist, March 11th 2010 http://www.economist.com/science-technology/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15660874 Isn’t it nice to be heard in bits and

A picture speaks a thousand words…yeah I know, what a cliché. Do videos speak more I wonder? So are we experiencing a textual silence or reserve perhaps in this new media age? Hardly. And what happens with all this contemporary chattering? Who is listening? Who cares enough to listen? Apparently not many according to media consumer analysts. People are too busy speaking about themselves, their day, their fleeting thoughts on toilet paper, baby nappies and strawberry yogurt often through the wonderful and humble medium of the picture. As I partake in this tradition by manufacturing my typical day and social life on Facebook as posed moments at happening events, I wonder what’s all the fuss about. After all, we are supposed to be our own best PR agent. If you don’t manufacture yourself, few people will care to do so on your behalf or worse yet, construct you through a montage that is not true to your desired manufactured self. Of course, self PR needs constant work. Me-branding article

What a wonderful idea isn't it? To make " high " culture a popular event is a challenge that the Netherlands seems to have met and even superseded expectations. Here's a glimpse of the program of the night: All 45 museums and galleries participating in the ninth edition of the Rotterdam Museum Night have announced their programmes, inspired by the theme XS/XL. The spectacular opening at 20.00 hours outside the Laurenskerk will kick off with a musical highlight of XS singing tones, XL music and 999 eyes that will be let off to wander through the night by the minister of Culture Ronald Plasterk. The programme of the Museum Night is varied and consists of pure highlights. The Witte de Withstraat and the Museumpark is the booming centre of the night. Let yourself be surprised by the eccentric circus at Alliance Française or relive your puberty in the National Museum of Education (Nationaal Onderwijsmuseum). Make your own inventions in the Kunsthal, create your own dream

Theme parks of the most unique kind are springing up everywhere! Leisure is taking a new turn. Recently Kunming, an area of 13,000 acres in southern China’s Yunnan Province is being converted into a Disney land of the little people. Tourists can come by to immerse in the spectacle of dwarfs performing and living at the same time; it’s a veritable live reality show. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/world/asia/04dwarfs.html?em Are these frozen realities that we choose not to see? Will we wake up and feel more inclined to think about disability more deeply or have we made disability exotic here? And even if it has been made exotic, can we argue that perhaps it is still better to be visible than invisible? Or take for instance the efforts of harnessing the ready-made reality of slums in Mumbai, India, as a tourist attraction to educate and entertain. Packaged tours of poverty sold for the common good? Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum covers an area of 530 acres and sweeps you with experience

Good intentions drive me mad. The moment you start talking about intent, it means you've failed in what you were trying to achieve right? I'm a victim of my own good intent. In class, I want to talk about countries and people that have been made exotic over decades if not longer; I want to talk about countries that have been written off as poor, corrupt and pretty much basket cases of the world. Say you bring up Ethiopia, besides our Michael Jackson's We are the world pop song charity event and famine jokes (that apparently is now off the politically correct radar on what can be made fun of), what comes to mind in the average youth? Or take South Africa and but for our man Mandela and Bono duo, rugby, and apartheid, it's pretty much a frozen picture. The idea here is to get to be less myopic about the world and more excited about global dynamism n all. Sounds all noble but hey, intent is pretty much always screwed. This is why. To talk about a context, you've got

I confess..I'm a PC person...PC has been my companion for the last 10 years...we now have a solid marriage; you know the kind where you know exactly what to do to get PC all fuzzy and happy; learning to tolerate and then actually start to like its quirks and moods; got great memories of us trekking the Himalayas to the villages in Guatemala. They say he doesn't look like much but I say that he is a grounded guy, who has no problem in roughing it. They say that he is too much of a common man, sort of like a village bumpkin, not very sophisticated, not very visionary but I say, he is truly worldly and that the great thing about being common is that he relates to more people than not. So in comes Mac, the slick talker who struts his style. In fact, my parents hooked us up with the best of intentions. I was gifted the MacBook Air, slim, sexy and seductive. But come on...I feel like if I sneeze, Mac may just fall apart! Its so delicate and light that you wonder if its really designe

Sinatra has done it again...no, not got the hearts and minds with his music but rather, got the hands to work overtime; apparently, people in the Philippines are  busy stabbing each other over the singing of "My Way." Alright, I'm falling into the usual sensationalizing of such news as it makes good copy but with the recent murders happening in the guise of Filipino passion for this song, this has taken on quite a legendary status.  Its strange to associate such violence and rage with karaoke, especially since I've been touting karaoke as an amazing tool for social engagement and edutainment from my research work in rural India. http://planetread.com The Same Language Subtitling project that I researched on was pioneered by Dr. Brij Kothari. The idea is simple really...people in rural areas watch alot of TV, particularly Bollywood songs and the argument goes that if only we put the lyrics at the bottom of the screen that highlighted as it got sang, people would be abl

Can social science academics write with passion (pre-tenure of course)! After all, didn’t many of us get drawn to this field because we were just innately and insatiably curious about everything and better yet, wanted to be paid to think deeply about it, and share this through our teachings and writings? I love the drama of writing…truly. Just coming up with titles gets me in a tizzy. Isn’t it better to say “I can’t do Barbra” than “Social Learning in Multi-contextual environments?” [See this article of mine, http://www.payalarora.com/Publications/EdPhil-TheoryJ-2008.pdf ]. Does this compromise on what I’m saying or does it enhance the experience of thought? I mean, our social scientific methods can keep us disciplined enough to control our biases but it’s our biases that makes for real passion!

We are obsessed with difference. No doubt that every technology impacts society. No doubt that every new generation gets accustomed to certain unique ways of communicating through novel mediums. It is therefore natural for people to be concerned with “generation gaps.” The acceleration of technological change is assumed to create an acceleration of difference. Yes. It is assumed however but not determined. Expectations are but one aspect of new technology usage. We forget though that most technologies are used to fulfil something very basic and fundamental – the fostering, strengthening, and enhancing of relationships. The end incentive is not to maximize new technology but to maximize human relationships. Thereby, regardless of the widening spaces between generations, the panic of “mini-generations gaps” needs to be grounded; to remind oneself that people will continue to use a plethora of technologies to stay in touch, to connect, and to share. When I moved to the US from India in 19

Strange how we now read news of Google and Apple having a face off with each other with little mention of our good ole timer Microsoft. Google releases their Nexus One cellphone against the popular iPhone model, quite a bold step into the highly marked territories of Apple. In turn, Apple has just acquired Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising company. The stakes at this turf war seem serious. And much like a good Hollywood script, the cast of characters are set. Apple and Google, who bonded in the past over their mutual enemy, Microsoft, are now finding themselves in line of each other's fire. The question is...why is Microsoft silent in all this? Is it because its had its time of day? Is it because Microsoft without Bill Gates is like a sizzler without the sizzle? Or is Microsoft learning the benefits of spectator sport?

The Global Communication Association conference held at Bangalore was fascinating not just in its rituals [the only conference I ve been to that actually has politicians addressing the audience for almost 2 hours] but also its allowance for more "meaningful networking." Yes, this seems like an oxymoron but it did play out, genuinely so due to the critical size of the attendees. Few of us, including Yahya Kamalipour, Head of Dept of Communication and Director of the Centre for Global Studies at Purdue University, Orayb Najjar from Northern Illinois University, and myself got invited to speak at Manipal University on the topic of "Rethinking the Media Manifesto for an Equitable World Order." This was facilitated by the very challenging MD Nalapat, UNESCO Chair at Manipal University. Check it out... http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=69015