Scholarship in the digital era

Nov. 10, 2009

KALAMAZOO--Dr. John Willinsky, educator, activist and author at Stanford University, will discuss scholarship and access to knowledge in the digital era during two free, public events Thursday, Nov. 12, at Western Michigan University.

Thursday, Nov. 12, 2 p.m.
Meader Rare Book Room, Waldo Library

The first event, "Student and Faculty Research, Open Access, and the Cyber Infrastructure," will take place in the Meader Rare Book Room at WMU's Waldo Library from 2 to 4 p.m. It will have an open-discussion format.

Thursday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m.
2028 Brown Hall

The second event will begin at 7 p.m. in Room 2028 of Brown Hall. In his talk, "What's the Fuss about Open Access to Scholarly Work?" Willinsky considers the evolving role of the humanities in the digital era. He will discuss some of his current research on open access to research, Wikipedia, and "the intellectual properties of learning," a concept that builds on the work of John Locke.

Willinsky received his Ph.D. from Dalhousie University. He teaches in Stanford's School of Education and directs the Public Knowledge Project, which is focused on extending access to knowledge, including published research, through online sources.

His published work includes "Empire of Words: The Reign of the OED" (Princeton UP, 1994), "Learning to Divide the World: Education at Empire’s End" (UP of Minnesota, 1998), "If Only We Knew: Increasing the Public Value of Social-Science Research" (Routledge, 2000) and "The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship" (MIT Press, 2006).

Willinsky's visit is made possible by the Department of English's Scholarly Speaker Series and is co-sponsored by WMU's University Libraries, College of Education and the Third Coast Writing Project.

For more information, contact Dr. Anthony Ellis, assistant professor of English, at anthony.ellis@wmich.edu or (269) 387-2606.

Adapted from: www.wmich.edu/wmu/news