Thinking Otherwise

20 November 2009 - Remix/Reprint
A short remix/reprint of material from the first chapter was published in Adbusters #86: The Virtual World/The Natural World. Check out the issue at Abusters.org, pick up a copy while waiting in line at Whole Foods, or read a pdf copy of the remix/reprint here.

10 October 2009 - Spin-off
An essay titled "Beyond Mediation: Thinking the Computer Otherwise" has just been published in the inaugural issue of Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture 1(1), pp. 53-70. This issue, edited by Paul Taylor (University of Leeds), is organized around the topic of Media Studies 2.0, a concept that was introduced and first made popular (although independent of each other) by William Merrin and David Gauntlett. The entire issue is available free of charge online, and my article is directly available in pdf copy.

30 August 2009 - Review Published
Andrew Baerg of University of Houston, Victoria has just published a review of the book in Symploke 16(1-2). 2008, pp. 341-343. If you do not have access to this journal, you can follow this link to a pdf copy.

30 April 2009 - Teaching Award
I was recently awarded the pretigious Presidential Teaching Professorship (PTP). This award is Northern Illinois University's highest honor for teaching and it comes with considerable perks. Although the award honors accomplishments in pedagogy, the book is a direct outcome of my teaching activities and has been utilized in both my upper-level undergraduate and graduate seminars. In fact, every chapter of the book is informed by conversations I have had with my students and has benefited from their insight, comments, and questions. More information about the award is available in the official NIU press release.

4 January 2009 - Review Published
Ian Borton has just published a review of the book in The Review of Communication 8(4). October 2008, pp. 405-408. The review is titled "Getting Beyond Easy Dichotomies: Thinking Otherwise about ICT and ethics." Ian is an Alum of NIU, received his PhD from Bowling Green State University, and is currently Assistant Professor of Communication at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. If you do not have access to this journal, you can follow this link to a pdf copy.

29 December 2008 - Student Comments
Recent "ego surfing" turned up this piece of information...Thinking Otherwise was used in David Parry's "History and Theory of Emerging Media" (ATEC 6V81) in the fall semester of 2008 at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Parry's students have provided some very thoughtful and informed comments about the book, which are available at outsidethetext.org.

31 March 2008 - Review Published
Bill Cripe has posted a review at Amazon.com. Bill is an alum of NIU and currently holds the position of director of product management for Oracle Enterprise Content Management products. He is just finishing his own book on Web 2.0 applications for enterprise computing Reshaping Your Business with Web 2.0. Read Bill's post in the "reviews" section of the website.

12 February 2008 - Reviews Published
Two recent reviews of Thinking Otherwise have been published in library journals. One appears in the August 2007 edition of Reference and Research Book News and the other just came out in the February issue of the American Library Association's Choice. See the "reviews" section of this website for full-text versions of both.

15-18 November 2007 - NCA Convention
This year's NCA convention was the perfect venue for promoting Thinking Otherwise. Purdue University Press had the book on display along with the other titles from the Philosophy and Communication series. I had numerous opportunities to casually mention "my recently published book" in the context of presentations addressing MMORPGs, new media, and the rhetoric of technology. And the panel "Thinking Otherwise: Reconsidering our Understanding of and Faith in Ethics" went extremely well...despite all the "name calling." Cliff Christians called me a "humanist." Debbie Hawhee called me a "mystic." And Ramsey Eric Ramsey called me a "lover of wisdom." I'd take exception with every one of these labels, if they weren't so annoyingly accurate. Add to this insightful questions and comments from the audience and you have the best of all possible worlds for an academic conference.

22 August 2007 - Frankfurt Book Fair
Thinking Otherwise has been selected for exhibition at the Frankfurter Buch Messe--the world's largest book fair. This annual event, which is situated just a few miles from where Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type, will take place 10-14 October 2007.

1 July 2007 - Some Recent Press
Tom Parisi of NIU's Office of Public Affairs has written and published a story on Thinking Otherwise for the university's in-house newspaper, Northern Today. The story, which is available on-line, is titled Love Your Robot as Yourself? and provides a nice overview of some of the issues and concerns that are addressed in the book.

3 June 2007 - NCA Book Panel
Thinking Otherwise will be featured in a panel at the National Communication Association (NCA) convention, which will be held 15-18 November 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. The panel will include contributions from the following scholars: Heidi Campbell (Texas A&M University), Briankle Chang (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Clifford Christians (University of Illinios), and Debra Hawhee (University of Illinois). Ramsey Eric Ramsey (Arizona State University) will chair the session. The panel is titled "Thinking Otherwise: Reconsidering our Understanding of and Faith in Ethics" and is sponsored by the NCA's Communication Ethics Division. More information is available at http://www.natcom.org.

23 May 2007 - Merch!
A new line of Thinking Otherwise merchandise is now available at the online store. There are T-shirts of all cuts, sizes, and colors as well as a tote bag for carrying around your junk or several copies of the book. Just follow the link on the "buy" page. Wear one of these shirts and make the "other" you encounter on the street give you confused and curious looks.

19 April 2007 - Publication
At NIU, my colleagues and I offen split hairs over what constitutes publication. Specifically, we question when publication actually can be said to have happened. Some argue that it is at the time a manuscript is accepted for publication. Others claim it can be dated from the delivery of the proof sheets. The strictest interpretation holds that publication does not occur until the book is actually printed and in hand. Today Thinking Otherwise cleared this bar. Early this afternoon, a carton of books materialized on the front steps, and I now hold several copies in my hands. That much is done. Now begins the long and less-than-enjoyable process of marketing and self-promotion.

31 March 2007 - Website in Beta
A beta version of the website for Thinking Otherwise is up and running. The site provides access to excerpts, reviews, author bio, and publication data. An official release will follow shortly.

15 March 2007 - Off to the printer
A design for the book's front and back cover is now completed. Many thanks to Bryan Shaffer of Purdue University Press, who created the design. Final revisions have been incorporated and the entire project has been sent to the printer. Copies of the book should be available in 4 to 5 weeks. Pre-orders are currently being taken at online book stores (i.e. Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble).

1 March 2007 - Back Story
Thinking Otherwise is the result of three events, all of which occurred in the fall of 2002. The first was sabbatical leave. Having just completed my first book, Hacking Cyberspace (Westview, 2001) the year before, I desperately need time to reorient my research program and to decide upon what would become "the next big thing." The second was the Applied Ethics Colloquium and International Conference on Virtual Reality and Communication Ethics convened at the University of Illinois in November of 2002. If sabbatical provided the time and space for Thinking Otherwise, it was the colloquium that supplied what would become its content. This meeting brought together scholars of all varieties and backgrounds. Participants worked in pairs to compose original papers that served as the focal point of colloquium discussion. I had the good fortune to work with Debra Hawhee of the University of Illinois. Although the paper we composed and eventually published in the Journal of Mass Media Ethics (vol. 18, no. 3 & 4, 2003) is not reprinted in the book, its content is a direct result of the ideas and problems that she and I initially examined together. The third event was a chance meeting between myself and Ramsey Eric Ramsey, the editor of the Purdue University Press series in Communication and Philosophy. This encounter was facilitated by my former colleague Mary Keehner, who made the introductions during the 2002 National Communication Association (NCA) convention in New Orleans.