Vol I

Having reviewed Vol I of the SEAD White Papers Report, I'd like to post some notes and thoughts: 

Culture and economic development. Research and creative work. Learning and education. Collaboration and partnership.  Assuming that the proposed graduate student network were to adopt these same SEAD objectives, would we approach things differently?  How would we view these principles in terms of our own works and individual ambitions? I would hope that regardless of our diverse passions, we could come together and integrate our interests and skill sets into a collaborative effort toward various forms of advocacy.  

And in some regard to advocacy; I feel that most of us our so focused on our current works, that we seldom reflect on how our skills can be used to better the greater community.  While some theses do focus on current 'industry problems' with an aim to propose a new solution, I'm not sure whether as a whole, we think of these honed efforts toward graduation as potential solutions elsewhere.  We need an avenue to explore alternative applications.

Common threads of interest emerged during the course of SEAD's investigation: translating, convening, enabling, including, embedding, situating, sense-making, documenting, learning, collaborating, and thriving.  Given our own unique community of art-science hybrids, how may we address and contribute on these fronts?  With our limited resources - time, sustenance, attention spans - we may need to narrow our scope.  Efforts must be made to convince us that these seemingly lofty visions are actually possible to attain! 

That said, I'd like to keep these next issues in mind as I dive into Vol II:
Are there any successful examples out there? *Spoiler* HASTAC
Where might we find resources for the common graduate student with an interest in advocacy? *Spoiler* PESCA
Keep track of ideas for the development of our own network's vision...

Building Networks

Under the tutelage of Carol LaFayette, Principal Investigator for the SEAD Network, I've been tasked with creating a Network of my own. This network will be dedicated to my fellow graduate students in the Department of Visualization.  

First, I need to gain a solid understanding of how and why creating such networks is done.  So, I'll begin with researching the SEAD Network and their efforts for creating international collaboration.  My first taste: White Papers Report; let's dive into volume one!