PhD Student

Obviously, this is autobiographic...

PhD Student

As I pick out some thoughts
From the dramatic folds
Of pissed
Concrete,
My text collapses
Into pieces
Of minced
Meat.

Quick!
Gather!
The harvest!
With my pita-scraper!

I moisture it with tears,
And bite
The paper.

December 8, 2011

George McGovern at TU Dortmund

Something very special happened last Thursday. That something was important to our department of the American Studies. At the moment, our Department (as well as other Humanities Departments at TU Dortmund) is in crisis. I am very concerned about our future at TU Dortmund. There are rumours that our Department will receive less funding, this might jeopardise our existence in this university. But, as I said, these are rumours. I have no evidence to support this information leak. If these "voices from the underground" are based on the facts, consider how important it was having Senator McGovern at TU Dortmund. The event was initiated by my supervisor, Prof. Walter Grünzweig, a talented professor, charismatic American studies scholar, and my forgiving academic "Father", who has a lot of patience reading my stuff.

First of all, a couple of words about McGovern in case the reader of this blog post is not aware about the many deeds of this man. And the narrative about his good deeds as a politician is very long, too long to be covered here. But many people, not only the citizens of the U.S., know McGovern as a former Senator from South Dakota and the Democratic candidate for the Presidential Elections 1972. Some even say, "He is a hero of my lifetime!"

Read more about McGovern's 1972 Presidential Campaign here.

Thanks to the courtesy of my colleague Elena Furlanetto, I have a photograph of me right after asking Mr McGovern a question about his book. To my surprise, the question raised an emotional response. Mr McGovern talked about his latest book, and he reflected on how the idea to write it came to him one day.

I noticed that Mr McGovern carried around a white book with him. He delivered his speech, but never looked up anything in the book, he touched the book several times while reflecting on the crisis of democracy in the U.S.; afterwards, he proceeded to another table where a glass of water was awaiting for him, he sat down, and kept the book right in front of him while answering the questions. I became curious about Mr McGovern's preferences, what books he reads. What is that special book? The Bible?

My question: "Mr McGovern, you brought a book with you onstage. Most of us are students here, and, I am sure, many of us would have liked to know: what are you reading? You are such a busy person, can you afford reading books?"

The answer: "I have read this book very carefully because I wrote it myself."

Laughter in the auditorium.

Mr McGovern wrote and co-authored a number of books:

• War Against Want: America's Food for Peace Program, Walker & Co., 1964.
• Agricultural Thought in the Twentieth Century, Bobbs-Merrill, 1966.
• A Time of War! A Time of Peace, Vintage Books, 1968.
• Guttridge, Leonard F. The Great Coalfield War, Houghton Mifflin, 1972.
• Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern, Random House, 1977.
• Terry: My Daughter's Life-And-Death Struggle With Alcoholism, New York: Villard, 1996.
• The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time, Simon & Schuster, 2001.
• The Essential America: Our Founders and the Liberal Tradition, Simon & Schuster, 2004.
• Social Security and the Golden Age: An Essay on the New American Demographic, Speaker's Corner Books, 2005.
• Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith, Augsburg Fortress, 2005.
• Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now, Simon & Schuster, 2006.
• Donald C. Simmons, Jr. and Daniel Gaken (eds.) Leadership and Service: An Introduction, Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2008.
• Abraham Lincoln, Times Books, 2008.

McGovern's latest book is titled What It Means to Be a Democrat, it is available for purchase. The Amazon.com product description:

A call to arms by the former presidential candidate that combines personal anecdotes and cultural critiques to remind liberals of their ideological compass and restore confidence.

George McGovern has been a leading figure of the Democratic Party for more than fifty years. From this true liberal comes a thoughtful examination of what being a Democrat really means. McGovern admonishes current Democratic politicians for losing sight of their ideals as they subscribe to an increasingly centrist policy agenda. Applying his wide- ranging knowledge and expertise on issues ranging from military spending to same-sex marriage to educational reform, he stresses the importance of creating policies we can be proud of. Finally, with 2012 looming, McGovern's What It Means to Be a Democrat offers a vision of the Party's future in which ideological coherence and courage rule.

Interesting. Critical. Polarizing. But my question is: why did not he present me with this book? For such a PR effort, you know... Even though it was not intentional...

In his answer to my question, McGovern mentioned his book Terry: My Daughter's Life-And-Death Struggle With Alcoholism, which turned out to be a bestseller:

The former Democratic senator from South Dakota here presents a memorial service for his alcoholic daughter, Terry, who froze to death on the streets of Madison, Wisc., one pre-Christmas night in 1994. (Read the full book review here.)

I do not like politicians talking about their private lives onstage. What for? For compassion? To score some points? But McGovern was very open and calm. He did not dramatize, no tears running down the cheeks. It happened, and he wrote a book about it. And then he wrote other books about other things, most of them were about politics and history. The auditorium was impressed at McGovern's revelations. Not a single chair could be heard squeaking, no cookie crunching while he was talking about his daughter and her death. I think, the student audience adopted McGovern as a sad grandpa, and showed respect.

Unlike in the case of the representative of the Amerika Haus e.V. Nordhein-Westfalen speaking. The speaker said, "Mr McGovern, we were happy having you last night." And some 50 or so German students started giggling. It seems to me that many students in the large auditorium of Audimax were still in their puberty.

Meeting McGovern was a pleasure. It was also an important event for us, the American Studies scholars from Ruhrgebiet. Pr. Grünzweig was in his best mood, his mouth stretched in a wide smile when the audience stood up (!) and loudly applaused McGovern. Overall, the hall hosted more than 700 students, professors, guests... It was impressive.

Cold coffee poem.

My beloved and I separate. This is a very sad period of my life because I still love him, but we have to do this to prevent from hurting each other emotionally. This is not a perfect time for writing a thesis chapter, but good enough for something lyrical...

My Love used to bring coffee in bed every morning. Yesterday and today I came home (I was staying at a hotel overnight) and found cold coffee in the kitchen. I thanked Gabor for leaving coffee for me. He replied on Facebook, "Why was it good? you don't like cold coffee..."

This is my reply.

Cold coffee.
Well,
of course,
I like my coffee hot.
But cold is what I've got.

Fresh coffee.
warms my lips,
my tongue and---even soul!
But experts drink it cold
for quality control.

So,
the result of degustation
deserves to be on Twitter:
"Whether it's hot or cold---
Coffee is bitter!"

(c) me

Oh man, I cannot believe we are separating. I am deeply in love with him. Still.

Sipping cold coffee.

Warblogs Class Is Over: Here Are Some Great Student Projects

In my last class (last class this year or, maybe, in my life, I don't know), my students and I were reading American warblogs and milblogs. It was an exciting and challenging experience. Exciting because we had great discussions about controvercial topics. Challenging because I had a very diverse group of students: I had a bunch of Americans, a female student who was born in Pakistan, a German student who served in Afghanistan, a student from Poland, and German students who were explicitly liberal and anti-war. I also had several students who complained about my assignments in a disrespectful manner; I have never had such students in my class before. This semester was full of surprises: some of them were negative, but most of them were very-very positive. And as a matter of tradition, I like to write about the student projects, which, in my opinion, were special. (I am still in the process of reading and grading student projects, I will keep updating this blog-post.)

I would like to start with a research paper and presentation by Phil Mack. This is not a very original project in terms of performance/form. There are more interesting ways to interact with a text. Phil wrote a traditional research paper with an intriguing title "Forbidden Words". Phil writes, "For decades two of the greatest world powers reared their heads through military might and yet today only one will readily admit it. Germany and the United States have been two of the world's superpowers, controlling massive market shares in the industrial market and military market places, but today Germans are seemingly ashamed of it." These are the first two sentences from the introduction of Phil's argumentative paper. Phil introduces his research question right away. He asks, "How was it become that one of the most influential states to grace this planet is not able to even look itself in the mirror, and yet the other puts on display what they are and has allowed it to become their national identity?" Phil compares the differences between the anti-war sentiments in the United States and Germany, and comes to a conclusion that "were it not for the fact that Germany did not win WWII and was then partioned, they would be in a similar position with their anti war sentiments as the US today". Considering the class discussions, Phil Mack's paper is a valuable response. Unfortunately, I could not arrange a session with the American soldier in class. But Phil explained how "an average American" can be anti-war, yet supporting the U.S. military; "support the troops not the cause" dilemma. Within the context of this course, Phil Mack's research paper and presentation provided a critical perspective on the contemporary anti-war sentiments in the U.S. and Germany, which was very different from that of the majority students in class. It was noteworthy because Phil presented his controvercial point of view in a very considerate manner. It was a very valuable contribution, Phil. Thanks for that.

German Students Exploring the Basics of the Muslim Women Fashion

The students who wanted a grade from me had to take an exam this Tuesday. The exam was made up of two parts: test (10 questions) and essay (min. one A4 page, max. three A4 pages of handwriting). The students could earn an extra point for the test. They had to draw women wearing: 1. hijab, 2. niqab, 3. burqa. Most of the students writing the test completed the task successfully. (One must mention, most of the students taking the test could be identified as white Germans). So, here are some great/funny/strange drawings, which I would like to share with you in my blog. :) No names of the students will be revealed---don't even ask me. Enjoy!

These are my favourites. I like the second drawing very-very much. However, the characters in the first drawing "show" emotions. Hence, the first drawing is the Top1 on my list. The second drawing reveals the author's better drawing techniques, though. :)

The drawings below are neat. The characters have smiles on their faces.

The clothes of these Muslim women are darker and have texture.








This Muslim woman does not smile anymore.










An example of a Muslim woman who has "a window to look through"...














And here is an example of a faceless and empty-eyed Muslim woman.














Vampire Muslim woman.
















I think, the students wanted to save time and forgot to dress up some of the women. :)













Ghosts.














The most abstract woman wearing burqa I have ever seen on paper. XD










etc.

I am happy that the majority of students can distinguish hijab from niqab. In my humble opinion, it is not intelligent to call any item on the Muslim woman's head --- burqa. Please, stop doing it!

A Student Project "Digital Nomadism: Freedom or Slavery?"

Yesterday evening was remarkable.

The group of students working on the project "Digital Nomadism: Freedom or Slavery?" presented the fruits of their hard work in class, which is part of the Intensiveseminar organized by Amerikanistik for the "creams" of our student body. For four weeks Alina Guender, Benjamin Zich, Kristina Stapels, Marina Piatkov and Martin Graebe have been working on a documentary for the class. The raw three-hour film had to be cut, of course. But I do hope the longer version of the film will be available on YouTube or any other video-sharing social network on the Web.

Martin Graebe started the presentation with a quest for definition: "Who is a digital nomad?". The definition the group provided was as follows:

A digital nomad can either change places or not, s/he has the freedom to decide when and where to work, s/he is place-independent, but always dependent on the digital world.

Basically, from the very beginning the group pointed at the ambivalence of the phenomenon: the construct defined as a digital nomad is a liberated and entrapped individual at the same time. I absolutely agree with this approach to studying digital nomadism.

Alina Guender proposed that digital nomads is a not a homogenious group. The first group of digital nomads adopted a new lifestyle as an inevitable and ESSENTIAL way of doing business. These freelancers and employees do business differently. Benjamin Zich has provided an informative overview about this trend in the contemporary bussiness world. Big companies like BMW, AOL, Silicon Valley, Google, SAP, Deutsche Bank , etc. compete for professional workforce and attract top-specialists by letting them choose where to work. However, this is a pragmatic decision as well: by working at home, companies save money, which could have been spent on a reular office. There were occasions when employees had no other option but working for the company from home. As for the freelancers, from an episode from the film prepared by the students for this presentation, the class could see that these digital nomads come from creative industries: music industry, architecture, design, IT, etc.

Kristina Stapels took over the "invisible mike" :) and provided a very well-structured overview of the "nomadic" trends in education. The second group of digital nomads is a priviledged group of the educated individuals: students and teachers occupy this very vast niche. Kristina raised questions about using the applications useful for students and teachers (the so-called "web 2.0 tools"), and proceeded with a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of studying on-line. The discussion turned out to be a success: students, course instructors and even the Dean of the Department shared their opinions in class. Some students appeared as very open to the "possible" or "inevitable" change, while others expressed scepticism about "universities going on-line". The discussion raised such issues as generation gap, gender equality and postcolonialism.

Meanwhile the avid users of social networks were put into the third box. The third group of digital nomads is represented by bloggers, on-line gamers, Facebook junkies, etc. This group is far too diverse and could be broken into more groups. Unfortunately, few research in general has been done about these individuals. The group working on the project for this class and I classify these individuals as digital nomads in their heads or, as the students put it, in their minds. These people are not necessarily high-tech overloaded travellers. These digital nomads are carried away by a matter of clicks. And there you go, they travel spaces while sitting on a chair in a bedroom. We insist this is also digital nomadism, but of a different quality. There is no exhaustive study of these journeys so far. There is some metaphysical literature about this, though. My dissertation touches upon this topic. Hopefully, my outstanding students will address this issue in their future projects, research papers, dissertations, etc.

The culmination of the presentation was a summary of the findings to the question whether digital nomadism is a triumph of freedom or just another manifestation of slavery (dramatic binary opposition, isn't it?:). From beginning to end, Alina, Benjamin, Kristina, Marina and Martin tried to show the complexity and ambivalence of the phenomenon of digital nomadism. Flexibility, choice to decide who you work with, how and when, establishment of your own organization, independence from your working place---all of these are advantages of adopting the digital nomadic lifestyle. But what are the costs of this lifestyle?

In the very beginning of the presentation, we encountered technical problems. Once the students figured out the problem, suddenly there was a loud skype call in class! We used a laptop of one of our students. He did not log off from Skype, his mother saw her son was on-line and decided to skype him while he was about to deliver a presentation. The student was embarassed. Though it was not planned, the situation served the purposes of the presentation! :) One of the costs for the digital nomadic lifestyle is that the barriers between your private and academic/work life are blurred (at times, deliberately destroyed). The "liberating" gadgets and applications, at times, turn against us, though we wanted to use them to take control over our lives and freedoms. One of the students listening to the presentation shared her personal story, when her father's company kept calling while the whole family was, actually, on holiday. The company expected him to be avaialable: "Not picking up the mobile phone would appears as unprofessional."

Technologies accelerate our lives, promise faster solutions to the problems standing on our way to "pursuit of happiness". But that also means we burn out physically and mentally much faster. As the students pointed it out, we find ourselves isolated because, for example, the cozy atmosphere of a coffee shop or a long list of Facebook friends do not necessarily make us more sociable and happy. One of the students from the audience said he feels forced to use Facebook. He is clearly aware of the disadvantages and dangers of having a Facebook account; he pays a high price for the sake of staying in touch with his friends.

In class, students complained about addiction to social networking. Some were open about the uselessness of the time spent Facebooking: "I wish I did not waste so much time, and spent it on doing something more useful instead." However, the abstinence from social networking can result in anxiety because the social networking junkie feels s/he is not participating in the social life of her/his friends and will miss important news.

The conclusion of the presentation was constructive. Marina Piatkov introduced the class to a possible solution to the problems occuring as a result of leading digital nomadic lifestyle: "Co-working--a new way to work." Marina explained how co-working spaces like the one in Dortmund brings together digital nomads from creative industries. She showed episodes from the interviews with the satisfied customers, e.g. digital nomads who used these spaces. Basically, these spaces look like normal offices. But you can rent a place at the table, the whole table, a small room, a large room and so on whenever you need it for a day or two, a week and longer. If you are a freelancer without an office and want to meet with your customers, renting a table for one day and meeting customers there would make much sense. Or if you work on a project while being away from your office, which is located in another city, renting a "creative space" could be a much better alternative to working in your hotel room. Co-working space is not an ultimate answer to the problem of leading digital nomadic (business) lifestyle; however, it might be a better and even healthier alternative (digital nomads working in creative spaces are more motivated to clean their teeth and brush their hair, right?).

I want to thank Alina Guender, Benjamin Zich, Kristina Stapels, Marina Piatkov and Martin Graebe for choosing to work on this project (the students taking the Internsiveseminar were asked to choose the instructor to work with and the project to work on in class). You are hard-working and creative, and I learned from you a lot. It was awesome to be a part of your project. I hope, you enjoyed it as well. :)

A New Course About Warblogs and Milblogs

Next semester, I start teaching a course titled "Warblogs: Front-line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan". In my courses, I talked a lot about liberal bloggers. I think, it is time to take a closer look at the blog-posts of the bloggers who supported war, or, actually, reported the war from the battlefields.

In addition, the perspective and approach to the text analysis will be different. In this course, I would like to invite the students to examine the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as examples of the corrosions of the Enlightenment vision, which dominates the U.S. culture and politics, and manifests in the the American ways of leading wars. Each session will be about that kind of Corrosion. For example, the very first session will be Corrosion 1: Reason. The next session will be Corrosion 2: Science. By reading the blogs of the bloggers-"crusaders", we will recognize the grand-narratives of the Enlightenment, and become witnesses of their delusion, and even madness at times.

Course Description:
This course takes a critical approach to reading warblogs and milblogs maintained by the outspoken conservative pro-war U.S. citizens and the U.S. service members deployed in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom). Arguably, these personal narratives are "the first real-time history of war, a history written even as the war continues" (Matthew Currier Burden, Former Major, U.S. Army, 2006). The selections from some of the most popular warblogs and milblogs are available on-line and in print.

Disclaimer: Some course material contains graphic and non-graphic images of both, bloodletting or tissue damage (for example, stories of soldiers in combat, images of torture and prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib, etc.), and includes war representations (for example, raw combat footage by American soldiers released on the internet and Hollywood movies about the Operation Iraqi Freedom).

Course Prerequisites:
1. Interest in the topic of the course
2. Fluent English
3. Basic German (one guest-presentation will be in German)
4. Technophilia (enthusiasm for new technologies)
5. Good presentation skills

Method of Instruction
This is a proseminar; it is essential that you take part in the class discussions and other in-class activities. The student who wants to get 1.0 or A is expected to:
1) attend every class (missing two classes is acceptable, though); 2) prepare home assignments for each class; 3) submit MOZes* by the end of each class; 4) participate constructively in the class discussions, 5) deliver an excellent presentation;
6) successfully pass the exam; 7) complete and submit a student project on time.

MOZ*: Moments of Zen. The idea of “moment of Zen” came from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart available at the Comedy Central (go to www.thedailyshow.com). Yet for the purposes of this class The Daily Show`s concept was transformed. In the end of each class students will be asked to write down (creative/controvercial/insightful/etc.) ideas related to the class reading material and discussion on a sheet of paper. These should be in a form of a hypothesis or research question (max. three). The quality of the MOZes matters. So make sure you take notes effectively during the class. (See the handout “The Cornell Note-taking System” as an example) The ideas should be signed and dated. NOTE: This is an in-class task which is to be completed and submitted in class only.

Required Texts
1. Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence (2003). Captain America and the Crusade against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. 392 pp.
2. The Holy Bible: King James Version. Dallas, TX: Brown Books Publishing, 2004.
3. The Qur'an: Translation. Trans. Abdullah Yusuf Ali. Elmhurst: Tahrike, 2000.

Attendance Policy and Class Participation
COME ON TIME. Class attendance is mandatory.The students are expected to be present in class and prepared to contribute to the discussions in the proseminar. Closer to the end of the class, the attendance sheet will be distributed. The students are expected to put down their names and signatures. Notice: You may not sign the participation list on behalf of your colleague. If you miss more than 2 classes during the semester, every additional absence will lower your grade for the Class Participation by 1,5 points. The maximum number of Class Participation points you can accumulate is 20. (See Grading Policy)

Laptops, Cellphones and Drinks
As this is a class dealing with the new media, LAPTOP USAGE IS PERMITTED. There will be sessions when having a laptop in class will be encouraged. NOTICE: surfing, emailing, instant messaging---all in all, the irrelevant activities of whatever kind---are not permitted. TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE(S) and other gadgets which might distract you and the class.

COFFEE/TEA: I do not mind if you bring your morning coffee/tea and brötchen in class. Just make sure you disturb no one by drinking/eating.

Student Project
The project is an opportunity for students to enhance their understanding of the American cultural narratives, conduct an in-depth study of a topic of particular interest. This is also an opportunity to demonstrate independence and originality, gain extra knowledge and develop research skills. The topic must be related to the content of this course.

The student project will be negotiated between the course instructor and 1) the student (if s/he prefers working individually) or 2) a group of students (if you prefer working in a group). In each case, the student must acknowledge the advantages and disadvantages of the group versus individual decision-making.

Given the time constraints, please, realistically assess the time you will need to complete this project. To ensure your project is successful, keep in touch with the course instructor: inform about the preparation progress and (technical) problems, (optional) show the preliminary version of the student project, attend the office hours (Tues. 10:00-11:00) or make an appointment with the course instructor to discuss the project.

The maximum number of Student Project points you can accumulate is 40. (See Grading Policy)

Student Presentation
Every student attending this course is expected to deliver an effective presentation of a student project. You are required to attend and evaluate every presentation in class. Carefully read the syllabus and the attached handouts. For your convenience, this syllabus includes very helpful handouts.

You are encouraged to consider the tips for making an engaging presentation; please, read: 1) the presentation guidelines handout, 2) the presentation skills self-evaluation form and 3) the presentation skills evaluation form. Note: the group presentation is evaluated on the basis of the general performance of the team.

Group Prsentation
Presentation time: 15 minutes for each group.
Number of presenters: All the group members (maximum 3 students).

Individual Presentation
Presentation time: 10 minutes for each presenter.
Number of presenters: 1 student.

The maximum number of Student Presentation points you can accumulate is 20. (See Grading Policy)


Exam
The exam is made up of two parts: test (20 questions) and essay (min. one A4 page, max. three A4 pages of handwriting). As a matter of tradition, water, tea, coffee and cakes are served. The maximum number of points you can accumulate is 20. (See Grading Policy)

Mocking Exam
Note: Optional, not mandatory! Prior to the exam, a mock-exam will be organized on Sunday. This overview session also includes helpful takeaway materials for all who attend. Attending the mock-exam does not guarantee a better grade for the final exam, but this practive turned out to be vey helpful to some of my students.

GRADING POLICY
Your grade will be awarded based on the total number of points. Make sure you clearly understand how the points will make up your desired grade. No part of your grade will be based on anything other than your class performance. You are encouraged to take advantage of instructor office hours for help with coursework or anything else connected with the course and your progress.

Class Participation, In-class Tasks and MOZes 20 points
Student Project 40 points
Student Presentation 20 points
Exam 20 points
Total: 100

Plagiarism
Instances of plagiarizing will not be tolerated and will result in a dismissal from the course. Whether you are a scholar or a blogger – try to sustain a reputation of a credible voice. Always give proper credit to information generators whose ideas you decided to use.

WELCOME TO CLASS!

According to the latest list, 27 students will take this class. Looking forward to interesting and challenging discussions.

How to Effectively Rebuild the Broken Kyrgyz Nation? The Crash Course

Our President Roza Otunbayeva is an outstanding woman; after reading the European news in which she is mentioned, one might have an impression she is a very special woman politician who came to power to fix the Kyrgyz Republic's democracy. Undoubtedly, our head of government Roza Otunbayeva raises awareness about the Central Asia's potential and prospects. But, unfortunately, our new Kyrgyz government is not effective in rebuilding the Kyrgyz nation.

There are better and more efficient alternatives. In the video below, Paul Collier highlights the common mistakes of the national governments in their attempts to rebuild the broken nations. To my astonishment and dissappointment, all of these mistakes have been repeated by Kyrgyzstani government. Find 16 minutes and watch this video, which had a revelational impact on me.

DISCLAIMER: To my disappointment, I found out that from 1998 to 2003, Collier was the director of the World Bank's Development Research Group; he now directs the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford, where he continues to advise policymakers. Bio at Ted.com is available here. Why disappointment? Because I am very sceptical about the World Bank as a legitimate institution anyhow instrumental in helping the poorest nations with managing their financial crises. (Read Masters of Illusion: The World Bank and the Poverty of Nations (1996) by Catherine Caufield and Globalization and Its Discontents (2002) by Joseph Stiglitz---the disillusionment with the deeds of the World Bank is guaranteed!)

Despite Collier's affiliation with the World Bank, his arguments are worthy of our attention. Undeniably, we are the kind of the broken nation Collier is talking about. At least out of curiosity and self-defence, we should be interested in the vision of the powerful white Western economic elite. Mr. Collier says, "The record on post-conflict recovery is not very impressive. 40-percent of all post-conflict situations, historically, have reverted to conflict within a decade. In fact, they've accounted for half of all civil wars. Why has the record been so poor? Well, the conventional approach to post-conflict situations has rested on, on kind of, three principles." So what are they, the three misleading principles? And what are the better alternatives in Collier's opinion?

The Three Common Misconceptions According to Collier:
The first Collier's Misleading Principle: "It's the politics that matters. So, the first thing that is prioratized is politics. Try and build the political settlement first."
The second Collier's Misleading Principle: "And then the second step is to say, "The situation is admittedly dangerous, but only for a short time. So, get peacekeepers there, but get them home as soon as possible." So, short-term peacekeepers."
The third Collier's Misleading Principle: "And thirdly, what is the exit strategy for the peacekeepers? It's an election. That will produce a legitimate and accountable government. So, that's a conventional approach."
Then Collier deconstructs everything he has said by claiming, "I think, that approach denies reality."

Collier's Combatting the Three Misconceptions in His Ted.com Talk:

"I've tried to look at the risks of reversion to conflict during our post-conflict decade. And the risks stay high throughout the decade. And they stay high regardless of the political innovations.

Does an election produce an accountable and legitimate government? What an election produces is a winner and a loser. And the lose is unreconciled.

The reality is that we need to reverse the sequence. It's not the politics first; it's actually the politcs last.

The politics become easier as the decade progresses if you're building on a foundation of security and economic development. The rebuilding of prosperity.

Why does the politics get easier? And why it is so difficult initially?

Because after years of stagnation and decline, the mentality of politics is that it's a zero-sum game. If the reality is stagnation, I can only go up, if you go down. And that doesn't produce a productive politics. And so the mentality has to shift from zero-sum to positive-sum before you can get a productive politics. You can only get positive, that mental shift, if the reality is that the prosperioty is being built. And in order to build prosperity, we need security in place."

I agree with the Collier that there is no quick fix, especially, as he has highlighted, no quick fix of the security system. At the moment, in Kyrgyzstan is very unsafe to live and travel, and do bussiness. The warnings coming from the U.S. Department of State are fact-based and should not be ignored by the foreigners traveling to Kyrgyzstan at the moment.

Following the violence in 2010, the situation throughout the country remains tense. More than 80 people were killed in the April 2010 violence that ousted former President Bakiyev. In mid-June, inter-ethnic violence erupted in the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad resulting in the deaths of more than 400 people, injuries to thousands, and the destruction or damage of many residences and businesses. Although open violence between ethnic groups ended in June, further unrest could break out suddenly.

The Department of State suggests that U.S. citizens limit travel to the Batken, Osh, and Jalalabad Oblasts where violence has broken out several times in recent years. The travel of U.S. government employees to the area is currently restricted. Land mines in Batken Oblast and near the Kyrgyz-Tajik border continue to be a concern.

Supporters of extremist groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), al-Qaeda, and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement remain active in Central Asia. These groups have expressed anti-U.S. sentiments and may attempt to target U.S. government or private interests in the region, including in the Kyrgyz Republic. In late 2010, Kyrgyz security forces carried out a series of operations against groups the government claims are Islamic extremists seeking to destabilize the country. These security operations have resulted in the death or arrest of several suspects, and several members of the Kyrgyz security forces. These militants are blamed for carrying out a home invasion, planting a car bomb near a Bishkek police station, and detonating an improvised explosive device outside the venue of a large trial in downtown Bishkek resulting in some property damage and minor injuries.

In late November, Kyrgyz Special Forces mounted an operation against suspected terrorists in Osh, resulting in the deaths of all four suspects and the wounding of two special-forces officers.

There are reports of attempted and actual “bride-kidnappings” in some areas of Kyrgyzstan. While foreigners are not usually targeted, a U.S. citizen female was held against her will for several days in one incident in 2007.

The political situation remains unstable, and demonstrations can break out without advance notice. During times of political unrest, demonstrators often gather in front of the Presidential Administration building (White House), the Parliament, and on Alatoo Square in Bishkek’s city center. The Embassy does not always have advance information regarding demonstrations. All U.S. citizens are reminded to avoid the vicinity of any protests, because even protests that are intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence.

Kyrgyzstan/Country Specific Information available at U.S. Department of State website

My homecountry is like a very sick grandpa. I feel angry at him for being incapable of taking care of himself, and then I feel very guilty in front of him. My grandpa is younger than I am, just 20 years old.

The Kyrgyz Republic got its elusive independence in 1991, and the government screwed it so badly. President Akayev, then President Bakiyev---have continued the tradition of the corrupted totalitarian government in Central Asia. The Kyrgyzstani experiment, labeled so by The Economist, proves to be unsuccessful so far. It took time for me to stop denying that I was born in a country which has a very uncertain future.

But, theoretically, something can be done to effectively rebuild the Kyrgyz nation. In his talk, Collier provided a kind of "alternative" "better" ways of rebuilding the broken nations. So, here are the "better" alternatives to the mentioned common misconceptions about rebuilding the broken nation according to Collier:

"So that is what you get when you face reality. But the objective of facing reality is to change reality. And so now let me suggest two complimentary approaches to changing reality of the situations.

The first is to recognize the interdependence of three key actors, who are different actors, and at the moment are uncoordinated. The first actor is the security council. The security council typically has the responsibility for providing the peacekeepers who build the security. And that needs to be recognized, first of all, hat peacekeeping works. It's a cost-effective approach. It does increase security. But it needs to be done long-term. It needs to be a decade-long approach, rather than just a couple of years. (...)

The second actor, different cast of guys, is the donors. The donors provide the post-conflict aid. Typically in the past, the donors have been interested in the first couple of years, and then they got bored. They moved on to some other situation. Post-conflict economic recovery is a slow process. There are no quick processes in economics, except decline. You can do that quite fast. So the donors have to stick to stick with this situation for at least a decade.

An then the third key actor is the post-conflict governemnt. An there are two key things it's got to do. one it's got to do economic reform, not fuss about the political constitution, it's got to reform economic policy. Why? Because during conflict economic policy typically deteriorates. Government snatch short-term opportunities. And by the end of the conflict, the chickens have come home to roost. So this legacy of conflict is really bad aconomic policy.

So, there is a reform agenda, and there is an inclusion agenda. The inclusion agenda does not come from elections. Elections produce a loser, who is then excluded. So the inclusion agenda means genuinely bringing people inside the tent. So these three actors and they are interdependent over a long term."

In Collier's opinion, if one of the actors does not commit itself to its responsibilities over the decade, the other actors and the citizens of the broken nation do not get the reassurance; the positive shift of thinking is impossible. Hence, there are no private investments; the economy does not recover. The nation loses donors and support. The nation stays broken; civil wars might break out. This is exactly what we experience in Kyrgyzstan during the latest decade: no improvements in the country's economy and the re-occuring violence in the form of revolutions, riots, and inter-ethnic slaughter.

Where is "reassurance" that our economy will recover? Well, this has become a matter of belief. You either believe in the brighter future or not. The "reality" is: the peacekeepers are leaving, the donors are leaving, bussinessmen are wrapping up their bussinesses, minorities are fleeing from Kyrgyzstan, as well as the educated young people and experienced specialists. For more about the state of economy in Kyrgyzstan in English, visit the Carnegie's Kyrgyzstan/Country in Transition website.

All the suggestions proposed by Collier are valuable and might well serve the purpose of the general guidelines. However, if we take a look at the current state of affairs in Kyrgyzstan, it is almost impossible to effectively and peacefully rebuild the broken Kyrgyz nation without setting priorities among our alliances, better said, frenemies: USA(?), Russia(?) or China(?). In 2010, The Economist expert on Asia wrote:

Kyrgyzstan does enjoy an advantage, however: geography. Its strategic location makes it courted by the great powers. Both America and Russia maintain military bases near Bishkek. The American Manas air base, or “transit centre”, as it is now called, is used for supporting American and NATO troops in Afghanistan. It is an important part of a northern supply route developed because of the vulnerability of convoys coming through the Khyber Pass from Pakistan. Russia’s base in Kant is part of an agreement by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, which groups together seven members of the former Soviet Union, to set up a counter-terrorism base in the region.

Russia, the former imperial power, still sees Central Asia as very much its own stamping-ground, so the Manas base has been a source of friction. In 2009 Mr Bakiyev promised Russia it would be closed and was promised aid in return. He reneged on the deal when America increased the rent it was paying.

Now, thanks to WikiLeaks, we know that Kyrgyzstani politicians had told America last year that China also offered it $3 billion if it would close the base. The idea seems improbable but not impossible. China’s behaviour over North Korea, after all, is often interpreted as intended to keep that country as a “buffer”, and avoid having American troops on its own border—as they already are in Kyrgyzstan.

"Enjoys advantage"? This must be ironic. Not in a geographical sense, though, but ideological--Kyrgyzstan is squeezed among powerful governments of Russia, USA and China. And the courtship with the three powerful lovers at a time is a dangerous affair by definition. Despite Collier's "common sense", there is no time for the Kyrgyz nation to implement the reforms and "fix" itself before "fixing" the international relations with Russia, USA and China. Roza Otunbayeva and our government must decide whether they close the American base or not. The steaks are great: closing the Manas base will ensure mutual trust between the Kyrgyz and Russian government; in addition, the Chinese government would prefer no Americans under its expanding belly. In many respects, Kyrgyzstan depends on the charity and trade with Russia and China. On the other hand, leaving the American base and, maybe, even expanding it (due to its importance in the war in Afghanistan), would mean millions of dollars flowing into Kyrgyzstan; a kind of Kyrgyzstani Marshall Plan(?)

So, what is our government up to? How long will it take our government to make up its mind? In the meantime, the Kyrgyz government is ignoring the issue and scrambling money here and there, wasting patience of the frenemies. The guarantee of success of the Kyrgyz Republic lies in the most appropriate choice of the ally for the next decades to come and effective self-management. At any rate, our economic growth demands a big donor, and the style of our development will be unavoidably influenced by our ally.

GOOGLE Internet Kafesi in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Well, guys, have some shame... Ever heard of plagiarism?

This is an internet-cafe in Bishkek (Sovetskaya/Mederova Str.) ;))

Thanks for photo, Sister! ;)
---
(UPDATE: February 23, 2011)
My sister wrote today:

не могу твой блог просмотреть. видимо ты слишком нежелательные вещи пишешь на усмотрение наших высокопоставленных...демократия называется, одно пустое слово...

Unfortunately, she cannot read my blog because of the Internet censure in Kyrgyzstan. To your friends living in the countries, where the Internet is censured, please, send the article "How to Get Around Nearly Any Web Blocker" from eHow. Useful.

Part II: Interesting Blog-projects Presented in My Class "The Emergence and Rise of the American Politicosphere"

Now, when I am finally done with grading, I have a spare minute to blog about several blogs, which were successfully presented in my class last week. (Read Part I) Today, I want to present two outstanding group-projects. These two blogs are very different from each other. Yet they have several things in common: both blogs raise awareness about the role of social networks in contemporary politics, these blogs have clear structure, neat design, quality content (I cannot but mention the selection of links to awesome articles and videos) and bitter-sweet humour.

All about Wikileaks by Leaker123
No doubts, this blog turned out to be the best ever presented in my classes in terms of design. Of course, what really matters is the content of a blog; however, I cannot but admit that I am very impressed by the final results of Leakers123:

"We are three students of English who write on "All about WikiLeaks" about Wikileaks as a part of a university project. The goal of the blog is to gather information and opinions about WIkiLeaks and surrounding topics."

The blog is informative, it can be very easily navigated, the design is neat AND the blog-posts are very well-written. I think, the three student bloggers did an outstanding job. Many thanks for this effort!

Social Media Battle by Ger_watch and US_watch
This blog is a high-calorie political snack, which will complement your diet, one of the most engaging blogs produced in this class. The two bloggers decided to write "about politicians who explore the world of social media". They stage the battle, "Who will win? Americans or Germans? Let the battle begin." Intrigue! And the stage is ready for the social media battles between Obama and Merkel, and a number of prominent American and German politicians, dead and alive. What are the conclusions? Who are the winners?
US_watch wrote:

My personal résumé about how American politicians use the internet for their purpose is fairly positive. I found that most of them are doing a fine job. Especially president Obama seems to have a competent staff to keep his facebook profile up to date. Another finding was that the time of blogging politicians seems to come to an end. They tend to concentrate more on facebook or twitter as those aren’t as time-consuming. Though some politicians do better than others, there’s one thing that unites them all. It appears to me that they don’t grasp the spirit of web 2.0. To them the internet is a one-way street. A channel to call out to the world and their voters, but when it comes to virtually interact with them, most of them don’t seem to be that interested anymore.
That’s why I’d like to end my US-part of the blog with a plea to all politicians out there. Talk less, listen more and the explore the fine chances that you have not taken so far.

More here.
Ger_watch wrote:

The last post about German politicians, trying to use web 2.0. How can I summarize the last eleven entries? At first, I want to apologize if we have have affronted anybody, but actually we had no other choice. If you want to see boring politics, you can watch the German "Bundestag", but we wanted to entertain you.
Obviously, not everything's bad about German politicians on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube. Maybe, the German mentality does not even want blogging politicians and an enthusiasm towards politicians as it could be seen during Obama's election. But I personally think that it is important to improve the online performance as there are less and less young voters.

More here.
So, who is on the Wall of Fame and who is on the Wall of Shame according to Ger_&US_watch today?

In the bloggers' opinions, Dirk Niebel and his "Edelprofil" on MeinVZ, Ken Salazar on Facebook, those reponsible for most of the official German parties social network profiles and a couple of Republican leaders, etc. are obvious loosers in terms of effective social networking with the young voters.

As for the Wall of Fame, along with the obvious example of Barack Obama, thanks to the bloggers I got to know Kristina Schröder on Twitter, Hilda Solis on Twitter, to name a few.

I sincerely hope these blogs will not be abandoned. Overall, great job, WikiLeakers123 and Ger_&US_watch!

(to be continued)

Part I: Interesting Blog-projects Presented in My Class "The Emergence and Rise of the American Politicosphere"

Today, I want to bring to the attention several blogs created by the students taking my class the Emergence and Rise of the American Politicosphere. In this blog-entry I will present three great blog-projects and explain why I like them very much. Due to the load of the work to do, I will be very brief and up to the point.

I must mention that the blog-projects are graded based on the quality of content and visual design. The students choose whether they want to build their own blog or launch one with the help of Blogger, Typepad, WordPress, etc. More about choosing a blogging platform here. The students are encouraged to experiment with the designs; however, design should complement the content. The content of the blog is very important: the topic, its relevance to this class, the blog's general coverage of the phenomena/events (the critical analysis is especially appreciated), the quality of the links, the general purpose and message of the blog, etc.

Shooting the Breeze by wetterfrosch
Wetterfrosch (translation from German: weatherman) is a self-proclaimed "22-years-old coffeeholic who often gets lost in the supermarket". The blog's creative presentation of the content outweighs the unsophisticated design. Wetterfrosch is open about his/her intentions:

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER! A clear, shallow and safe topic: the weather. We love it, we hate it, we all have an opinion about it. The world has never known a topic that enjoyed greater popularity! The world never payed more attention to a topic with more meaningless phrases and inate ongoing, boardering on ridicule in it's intensive triviality. The world has never known a topic favoured by more amateurs...possibly except for politics.

And we are elegantly lured into talking American politics. This is what I call "a creative approach" to the blog-assignment.

Hollyticosphere by Salia
Salia introduces himself/herself:

I just learned something about My "liberal identity" by doing an internet quiz:: You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home // // Btw: This is not actually telling you anything about my political opinion but about my adorement for funny quizes :) // Do it yourself: www.FightConservatives.com

This is an example of a blog by a person who appears as having "serious fun" with the project, while trying to figure out in what ways Hollywood is influenced by politics and liberal (non-mainstream) ideology. The blog is informative and, if I may put it this way, investigative. Unlike a typical research paper, Salia's blog resembles a digital notebook (notizenbuch) of the electronic sources relevant to her topic of interest. Hopefully, this blog will turn out to be very helpful to Salia in the closest future when she decides to write a research paper about politics and Hollywood.

Approaching the Healthabaloo by Elaine
To Elaine, her blog is "an attempt to approach the still more than lively discussion about the Health Care reform in the U.S." Elaine's personal narrative explains why she, an insured German student, has become interested in this topic:

Born in 1989 in Germany, I had to see the doctors on a quite regular basis: congenital neurodermatitis and hip dysplasia, chickenpox, sore knees, colds, scarlet fever, circulatory collapse… Health insurance was something I always took for granted. I never thought about what it would be like to be uninsured until last year’s February: I was brought to hospital as an emergency during my holiday. Diagnosed with thrombosis, the injections I required urgently cost about 380 Euros. In the middle of the night, with about 20 Euros in my purse, I was deliriously happy to be covered…

Blogosphere thrives on personal narratives. The course I have been teaching this semester was a lot about personal narratives and how they are evaluated in terms of relevance to the general history of the United States. Elaine's story is dramatic and "true"; her interests are clearly justified. As a result, Approaching Healthabaloo is a great compilation of very useful sources and Elaine's comments about a number of widespread misconceptions about the Health Care reform proposed by President Obama. Clearly, by the end of the 12th blog-post Elaine is a self-educated expert on this topic.

These are just three of my most favourite individual projects. There are more descriptions coming up tomorrow.

(to be continued)

The First Conference I Attended This Year: BOND Conference 2011, Bochum and Dortmund

The first conference I attended this year was the BOND Conference, the annual dissertation colloquium (combining American Studies in BOchum and DortmuND).

The conference offers young scholars in American Studies a forum to present current research projects as work in progress. Despite the fact that BOND is an "internal" event, a kind of dialogue or intellectual exchange between the American Studies PhD students from Bochum and Dortmund, we always have PhD students and Professors from nearby universities and international guests. This time the visiting American Studies specialists were Lynn Rose (Truman State University, currently Fulbright Professor at the University Rostock) and Steven Reschly (Truman State University). The way they handled their responsibilities as our conference "Rock Stars" was simply excellent. Many thanks, Professors!
If you click on the picture below, you will be able to inform yourself about the presenters and their work.

Thanks extends to the BOND organizers: Elisa Schweinfurth, Heike Steinhoff, Sina Nitzsche and Ariane Theis. Many-many thanks for organizing this annual event! An example of a good academic tradition.

Below is, basically, the extended summary of my presentation, which I have decided to publish as a reminder to myself.

"Construing Digital Nomadism"
Presentation by Svetlana Makeyeva
BOND Conference 2011, Bochum/Dortmund

One way to construe contemporary digital nomadism is to think of it as the basis for the formation of a sphere—a site and subject of liberal democratic practice—on the Web; another way, as the threat to the state system in Deleuzian and Guattarian sense, e.g. a war machine set by a nomad against the State apparatus. The intellectual framework which informs my study has its origins in A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari (D&G, 1980). With the English translation of the work in 1987, A Thousand Plateaus entered the English-language postmodernist and poststructuralist discourse. This complex philosophical work is qualitatively different from the Kantian and Hegelian [Western] State philosophy. Since A Thousand Plateaus received substantial criticism from many of the tenants of Anglo-American philosophy and analytic tradition, it seems useful at this point to provide an overview of a critical discussion of the postmodern thought, epistemic relativism in the philosophy of science and D&G’s work— particularly, A Thousand Plateaus—at this stage of my study. There is a set of the problems hindering the texts of D&G from acquiring a ‘classical value’ within Anglo-American political philosophy and academic scholarship, in general. (These will be mentioned in the course of the presentation.) However, despite the dominance of the narratives of Enlightenment and Spirit, the postmodern thought and the school of epistemic relativism did receive a degree of recognition in the United States, Great Britain and other countries and institutions, which have successfully adopted the dogmas of the analytical Anglo-American academic scholarship. Indeed, the postmodern thought has gained proponents and paved its way into Anglo-American university curricula. As demonstrated by a number of recent innovative works reviewed in this study, some philosophical concepts (nomad, war machine, body without organs, rhizome, etc.) introduced in A Thousand Plateaus and other prominent works by D&G turned out to be very useful in analyzing and reflecting upon the trends within contemporary American society. These studies are of particular interest due to the major up-to-date topics of my thesis, e.g. the State control of the Internet, the obstacles to the freedom of expression caused by the American corporations and the political resistance to the State system on the Web.
Key terms of the presentation: nomad, State Apparatus, contemporary digital nomadism, the Internet, World Wide Web.

I enjoyed the discussion a lot. I received several questions about the text I am reading, the methodological framework of my thesis and critical approach to Deleuze and Guattari's theories, particularly, feminist criticism of the philosophical concepts in A Thousand Plateaus (which I did not address in my presentation). Two distinguished professors recommended to include a paragraph or two about my approach to the "body" in my research. The comments and recommendations turned out to be a constructive criticism; hence, very helpful. The work on my thesis continues.

I like the picture above very much. It is available on the Web on many websites. Whoever the author, this is witty.)

The Event I Do Not Want to Miss This Year: The Fourth International Deleuze Studies Conference "Creation, Crisis, Critique"

I have just applied to The Fourth International Deleuze Studies Conference "Creation, Crisis, Critique". The deadline was supposed to be tomorrow (February 1, 2011). But to my knowledge it was prolonged (March 1, 2011). I applied as an "author" (you can choose whether you attend the conference as an author or participant). Besides, I have also applied to the Summer School: Deleuze Camp 5 "Creative Critique". I have never attended any Deleuze Studies course or summer school. I am the only person who is dealing with the Deleuze and Guattari's works in the American Studies Department at TU, DO. The Bochum PhD Candidate Dennis Mischke is the only Deleuzian I know personally in the Nordrhein-Westfalia. The 3rd Deleuze Conference, which I was honoured to attend last year, turned out to be great and isnpiring. Since, my productivity boosted. The Deleuze and Guattari's nomadology A Thousand Plateaus is at the basis of my methodological framework. I cross my fingers and go on working on my dissertation... hoping to be able to present an interesting paper about slightly different subject in June in Copenhagen.