COUCH CENTER NOTES

The Electronic Newsletter of the

Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research

(www.cccsir.org)

Fall, 2008
Table of Contents

From the Couch Center Director
Hao Winner of Couch Award
Border Winner of Christians Ethics Award
Streese Speaker of G Jon Hall Online GIFT Forum
DeFanti to Speak in Steve Jones Internet Research Lecture Series
DeVault Speaker of 2009 Peter M. Hall Lecture Series

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FROM THE COUCH CENTER DIRECTOR

The Couch Center continues its active and ambitious programs of awards and lecture presentations. I'm sometimes asked, "How long will you keep this going?" The answer is, "As long as it's relevant." This organization has never been about memorializing someone who died, but about a living body of scholarship. Carl's work continues to be cited regularly in current journals. The legacy of his teaching continues in the work of his students, and the students of his students. Through the cccsir.org website we are regularly contacted by scholars and students who have just come across Couch's ideas and want information on where to find out more. The Center's work continues to be relevant.

The question of relevancy raises questions, however, about the future. If this work is relevant, and therefore should go on, what does it take to make sure it does go on? The most immediate concern (as with all things these days, it seems) is financial. Our programs can only continue so long as we can support them. Your gifts in any amount are greatly appreciated and are very necessary to continued success. As the price of nearly everything goes up, we must stretch our dollars and rely on your support.

A second key concern is future leadership. As those who knew Carl grow older, a new generation must begin to take responsibility if relevant work will go on. Here again you can help. Of course, those still actively involved in teaching are introducing Couch's theories and methods on a daily basis. In addition, encourage your students and former students to participate in the award programs of the Center. Bring students with you to the various lecture presentations. Help the next generation to appreciate the richness of this intellectual heritage. Only in this way can the work continue.

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HAO WINNER OF COUCH AWARD

The Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research (www.cccsir.org) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2008 Carl J. Couch Internet Research Award. The Couch Award is presented annually and recognizes excellent student-authored papers.
   Richie Neil Hao, a doctoral student in Department of Speech Communication, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is the First Place winner for his paper, "Virtually Tsinoy: Performing and Negotiating Diasporic Hybridity Online."
   Angela Adkins, doctoral degree candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio is the Second Place winner for her paper, "The Presentation of Self in Internet Forums: Face Work without Being Face-to-Face."
   A tie for Third Place means that there will be two award winners in this category. They are Sara Hebert, a master's degree candidate in Digital Media Studies at the University of Denver, for her paper, "Your World, Your Imagination?: Representation and Social Expectations in Virtual Memorials;" and Vilma Lehtinen, a student in the Department of Social Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland, for her paper, "Performing Diverse Social Relationships on a Social Networking Site."
    The Couch Center established the Couch Award in 2002 as the centerpiece of an extensive awards program. Winning papers apply symbolic interactionist approaches to internet studies as advocated by the late Dr. Carl J. Couch, long-time professor of sociology at the University of Iowa.
   Competition is open to graduate or undergraduate students of all disciplines, and winners are selected by a committee of university professors in communication studies and sociology from across the U.S.
   This year's competition was rigorous, with entries received from students of all levels, from undergraduates through Ph.D. candidates, and were submitted by students from Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as North America.
   Winners receive a cash award as well as the opportunity to present their papers at a national or international conference. This year's awards will be presented at the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers in Copenhagen, Denmark, October 15-18.
    The Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research is a non-profit organization established to promote the scholarship of the late Carl J. Couch and his academic associates. Couch is recognized as the founder of The New Iowa School in sociological and communication inquiry, and was a pioneer in the qualitative research of information technologies.
    The Center provides networking opportunities for students and scholars who conduct social and Internet research, inspired by Couch's work.

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BORDER WINNER OF CHRISTIANS ETHICS AWARD

Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research (CCCSIR) is pleased to announce the winner of 2008 Clifford G. Christians Ethics Research Award. Sandra L.Borden of Western Michigan University won the 2008 Christians Award with her book, Journalism as Practice: MacIntyre, Virtue Ethics and the Press, Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2007.

In her award winning book, Borden makes virtue ethics as the central concern of journalism ethics. She suggests that MacIntyre's framework helps us to see how journalism is normatively defined by a moral purpose that is rooted in a broader conception of what is good for humans: helping citizens know well in the public sphere. Like Clifford Christians, Borden adopts a communitarian conception of journalism's role inspired by democratic impulses and a commitment to the common good. The resulting account of her book addresses the ethical challenges posed by commodification at the institutional level while binding journalists to citizens at the level of community.

Carl Couch Center would like to thank all that applied for the 2008 Christians Award. Special thanks goes to members of the Review Committee--Lee Wilkins (University of Missouri), Robert Fortner (Calvin College), Deni Elliott (University of South Florida), and Ronald Arnett (Duquesne University).

Christians Award is an annual competition established by the Couch Center to recognize outstanding ethics research that interpret or address important theoretical issues in the areas of ethics, mass communication theory, and the relationship between media and technology and culture, interpret and apply concepts employed in Christians' work in new and insightful ways. Submissions are evaluated based on the quality of (1) mastery of Christians' approaches and concepts, (2) originality, (3) organization, (4) presentation, and (5) advancement of knowledge. For more information about Christians Award please contact Shing-Ling Chen at sarina.chen@uni.edu, or visit the Couch Center website at www.cccsir.org.

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STREESE SPEAKER OF G JON HALL ONLINE GIFT FORUM

Germano G. Streese, Assistant Professor and Reference and Instructional Librarian at Luther College, will speak in the G. Jon Hall Online GIFT (Great Ideas for Teaching) Forum during the 2008 annual conference of the Iowa Communication Association (ICA), September 19-20, 2008, Ramada Inn, Waterloo, Iowa. Streese's presentation is entitled "The Internet in the Classroom: How to make the best use of it." Mark Johns (Luther College) will provide comments for the presentation.

Carl Couch Center established the G. Jon Hall Online GIFT Forum in the annual ICA Conference. The forum is designed to bring Internet researchers and practitioners to the ICA conference to promote the use of the Internet in teaching. For questions and comments about this event, please contact Shing-Ling Chen at sarina.chen@uni.edu.

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DEFANTI TO SPEAK IN STEVE JONES INTERNET RESEARCH LECTURE SERIES

Thomas DeFanti (University of California, San Diego) will speak in the Steve Jones Internet Research Lecture Series during the 2008 annual convention of the National Communication Association (NCA), November 21-24, 2008, San Diego, California. DeFanti's lecture is entitled "The Roadmap to Networked Digital Cinema, Telepresence, and Immersive Virtual Reality as Good as You Can See and Hear."

Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research (www.cccsir.org) established Steve Jones Internet Research Lecture Series in the annual NCA Convention. The lecture series is designed to bring leading Internet researchers to the NCA Convention to promote Internet research and to foster collaborations with communication researchers. For questions and comments about this event, please contact Shing-Ling Chen at sarina.chen@uni.edu.

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DEVAULT SPEAKER OF 2009 PETER M. HALL LECTURE SERIES

Marjorie DeVault (Syracuse University) will speak in the Peter M. Hall Lecture Series during the 2009 Midwest Sociological Meetings in Des Moines, Iowa. DeVault's lecture is entitled "Families and Others in Glimpsed Worlds." Judith Wittner (Loyola University, Chicago), shall provide comments for the lecture presentation.

In Fall, 2002, the Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research (CCCSIR, www.cccsir.org) established the Peter M. Hall Lecture Series to be presented in the annual Midwest Sociological Meetings. The lecture series is designed to bring leading sociologists to the annual Midwest Sociological Meetings to present lectures and continue the nurturing and mentoring young sociologists tradition.

The theme of Peter M. Hall Lecture Series in the next few years is "Symbolic Interaction, Sociology, and Changing Society: Critical Issues and New Directions." The "changing society" denotes that the society is changing and/or that we are interested in changing it ourselves.

This event is organized and sponsored by the Carl Couch Center. For questions and comments about this event, please contact Shing-Ling Chen at sarina.chen@uni.edu.

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