This is again in Finnish (sorry!), but if you can handle the lingo, this is really interesting reading: Salminen, Suoranta and Vadén have published a free e-book that discusses very welcome alternative approaches to what we mean by “university” or “university reform”: http://content.yudu.com/Library/A12e37/Tulevayliopisto/
Category: university
Hypermedia & games Masters open again
This is a Finnish degree programme, so in Finnish:
Tervetuloa hakemaan hypermediaan syventäviin maisteriopintoihin, pääaineena informaatiotutkimus, hakuaika 2.2.-27.2.09. Lisätietoja ja linkki hakulomakkeeseen on tarjolla täällä: http://www.uta.fi/hyper/uutinen.php?item=31062
Last Christmas of the Hypermedia Lab
This will be the last Christmas for the Hypermedia Laboratory in the University of Tampere: our new media research unit is going to fuse together with another department at the end of this year. The new name will be Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media. We will be bigger, stronger, and able to open MA as well as PhD courses in new media and game studies. Otherwise, the location and most of the practical things will remain the same for a while — welcome to visit us in the old premises in Pinni B building of the Tampere Uni campus area. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Personal profile (in Finnish)
Just noticed that the University of Tampere information services has published a personal profile of me and my work on game studies, nice (only in Finnish, though): http://www.uta.fi/ajankohtaista/tutkijaprofiilit/2008/1011.html.
Games research spearheads the University Alliance
There are some details still to be sorted out, but this is now official: games research has been selected as one of the spearhead areas that will be supported in the new Finnish University Alliance. The University Alliance is formed by three universities: University of Tampere, University of Jyväskylä and Tampere University of Technology. Games research has been granted the spearhead project status together with the research into the future of learning, so there will be particular interest in the connections of games and learning in the Alliance. The overall aim is to strengthen the Finnish academic work on games research by uniting the forces and having finally a large games research centre in this area. More (in Finnish): http://www.yliopistoallianssi.fi/karkihankkeet.html.
Futures seminar
(Pictured Marja Tiura, and the neck of Jyrki J.J. Kasvi.)
Today I am participating in a seminar organised by the Futures Committee of Finnish Parliament, focusing on the challenges of urbanisation, globalisation and civilization (Sivistys ja metropolit). I want to remind the participants about the need for comprehensive understanding (deep in thinking about the past, as well as the present and the future), also creating intergenerational and interdisciplinary dialogue that facilitates flexibility and innovation in small as well as in larger scale. Fantasy is one measurement: how much imagination we are willing to accept in our everyday? Arts and crafts is another: do we allow ‘everyman’ (everywoman, everychild) to be creative? Questions for our future…
New MA in the news
I noticed that at least Digitoday has written a short piece about our new Hypermedia-Information Studies MA; see this link (in Finnish).
New media and game studies MA
This is currently only the pilot call, and unfortunately some of the courses will only be offered in Finnish, but a significant development in any case: Hypermedia Laboratory is now joining forces with the Information Studies to offer a two-year MA track within Information Studies, with focus in Hypermedia (new media, digital culture and game studies emphasis). The special call closes already in March 3rd 2008; see: http://www.uta.fi/hyper/opetus/syventavat.php.
Communicatio Academica
Today Communicatio Academica, the joint seminar of Finnish professors and researchers, takes place in University of Tampere. The main topic of discussion is the integration, unification or collaboration of Finnish universities. Deep-going, structural issues that touch the future of learning, science and scholarship in our country. Program (in Finnish, PDF): [link].
Games spearhead the Alliance University
The exists an initiative to form a leading research and educational university into Finland through close collaboration of three autonomous universities: University of Tampere, Tampere Technical University and the University of Jyväskylä (“Sisä-Suomen yliopistoallianssi”). Yesterday the collaborative initiatives awarded the status and resources to spearhead this new Alliance were revealed and I was happy to see our initiative to form a joint Centre of Games Research by joining the forces of games researchers from the Alliance was selected as one of these spearhead initiatives. Hooray!
frans goes blog 
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