December Newsletter

Submitted by Andrew Whitacre on December 22, 2008 - 9:46am.
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Center for Future Civic Media

December Newsletter
Dear friends and colleagues,

There's a crackle and spark in the air here in Cambridge...maybe it's all the great work happening at the Center for Future Civic Media? Besides the Center's new website (civic.mit.edu)--now filled with more than a dozen community projects--we have lots of news from Center researchers and affiliates...

Landman Report Card
Our Co-Director and Principle Invesitagor Chris Csikszentmihályi launched the Landman Report Card, the first in a suite of applications designed to help communities affected by extractive industries to recognize, report, and act on their interests. LRC allows landowners to document, discuss, and rate their experiences with landmen, the professional negotiators who work for oil and gas companies. Chris' team, including graduate student Sara Wylie, is currently deploying the application in communities in several states in the US.

Landman Report Card announcement: http://civic.mit.edu/news/bringing-the-power-of-information-to-the-people

City of Boston
The Center is helping to lead the Media Lab's partnership with the City of Boston to explore how communication technology can be better used to support all Boston residents. Of particular focus are health issues among Boston's immigrant and transnational communities.

New Book by Jack Driscoll
Center Advisor and former Editor of the Boston Globe Jack Driscoll in November published Couch Potatoes Sprout: The Rise of Online Journalism.

For sale online: http://www2.xlibris.com/Bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=51933

Jack's interview with the Media Giraffe Project: http://www.mediagiraffe.org/mgprofiles/index.php?action=profile&id=178

Independent Activities Period
Members of the MIT community are welcome to register for this winter's IAP courses, including:

  • "Call for Action! Mobile Technologies for Activism," run by Chris Csikszentmihályi and Nadav Aharony, Research Assistant at the MIT Media Lab
  • "Good Morning and Good Luck: The Obama Administration and the Media," taught by Ellen Hume

Time and registration information are available here:
http://civic.mit.edu/calendar/2009/01/all

Best wishes to all of you, and happy holidays.

Andrew Whitacre
Communications Manager
Comparative Media Studies & Center for Future Civic Media
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(617) 324-0490
awhit@mit.edu
About C4FCM

The Center for Future Civic Media (C4FCM) develops new tools and strategies for fostering civic engagement and strengthening social bonds in local communities. The Center takes technologies that have proven so powerful for virtual communities, and re-envisions and re-engineers them to enhance civic participation at a local level, providing new ways for local residents to organize and share information for the purpose of democratic deliberation, neighborhood collaboration, and political action.

Any questions? Contact Communications Manager Andrew Whitacre at awhit@mit.edu.