Presentation a at the Worldviews Conference on Media and Higher Education in Toronto, Canada, June 16, 2011 as part of Social Media from the University and College Perspective. What are the implications? panel.

1. Democratization of Coverage: University of Venus Mary Churchill University of VenusWorldviews Conference, Toronto, June 16 2011

2. In the beginning… We were GenX women in higher ed Who were tired of being silenced So, we decided to create our own space A Global Space: Venus

4. We weren’t bloggers… We were writers We were passionate We had stories to tell

5. Using Social Media

6. Leveraging our Global Networks

7. Gender The most typical pattern of discrimination is invisible and subtle. It is not the case that women are actively excluded but that they are not invited to participate in what has traditionally been a male-dominated world. They are forgotten, they are not seen, they are ignored. AnamariaDutceacSegesten Lund, Sweden Research Fellow

8. Globalization To be a professor of International Affairs means that I need to value the world as a classroom in my own work while extolling the virtues of study abroad for my students. It is not enough for me to talk about the world "over there" in class--I have to show that my work "over there" is part of my everyday life "over here." Denise Horn, Boston, USA Assistant Professor

9. Rapidly Changing Academia Far from being a garden of pleasures of knowledge and thinking, academia is nowadays, in my perception, less about freedom and more about survival. Not a liberal career, but a professional plan restricted and limited by the demands of the market, as with any other job, independent of the level of one’s education. Ana Dinescu, Berlin, Germany, Recent PhD

10. Tenure Tenure is important not just because of academic freedom and job security, but also because it opens the door to other opportunities, opportunities that are unavailable to those who are not on the tenure-track. The university that finally realizes this and acts on it will be in the forefront in reinventing higher education moving forward Lee SkallerupBessette Kentucky, USA Full-Time Instructor

11. Leadership in Higher Ed Collaboration as opposed to competition, best practices possibly including networking, mentoring, listening, communicating, thinking creatively to draw out other people's good ideas and strengths, the ability to follow through and follow up. Janine Utell Pennsylvania, USA Associate Professor and Incoming Chair

12. Corporatization Academic libraries and librarians are desperate to stay relevant and be valued, and fairly powerless to do so on their own terms–in fact, almost all librarians share this plight. We are marginal figures in the university landscape–mostly women in a feminized, poorly paid profession, mostly untenured… Maybe we just haven’t figured out how best to resist. Cathy Eisenhower Washington, DC Librarian

13. Social Media Online decolonization and daily exercises of online self-determination are ways of befriending Others by acknowledging them as our contemporaries regardless of the time zone they might be in. Ernesto Priego London, UK Recent PhD

14. Contingent Faculty My decision, ultimately, was a financial one. When I needed a job and didn’t find one right away I applied for an adjunct position. I didn’t feel comfortable with adjuncting because I knew what the working conditions would be like, but I figured an adjunct job was better than nothing. But I quickly found out I couldn’t live on an adjunct’s pay. Liana Silva Missouri, USA PhD Candidate

15. Changing Coverage Focus on everyday life Creating space for minority voices Making subjectivity explicit Changing coverage changes the conversation

16. Advocacy Unlike other approaches to gender and social change, the “new knowledge” produced by Muslim women intellectuals could be the foundation of the most far-reaching and meaningful social change in the Muslim world as well as a useful mechanism for norms internalization in Islamic social settings. RihamBahi, Cairo, Egypt, Assistant Professor of Political Science

17. Community Building I find myself today—as a Gen Y Chinese Canadian female literary scholar approaching thirty—only capable of speaking to my family with a child’s vocabulary. This language barrier entails more than just late-onset assimilation. It entails a loss of family connections and intimacies. It leaves me feeling lonely and isolated. MalissaPhung Hamilton, Canada PhD Student

18. Problem Solving When the information pours in, there is one more essential thing to do and maybe it is even more important than getting new information. That is to have the needed time to reflect on this updated information. ItirToksöz Istanbul, Turkey Assistant Professor and Vice Dean

19. Empowerment But I want an attitude shift. I want Registrars to be the new uber-geek, like the new breed of information-savvy librarians with tattoos. Heather Alderfer New Haven,CT, USA Associate Registrar

20. Changing the Conversation Stories with relevance outside of higher education Connections to the “real world” Dismantling the Ivory Tower image Broadening the audience Creating new conversations

21. New Audience = New Conversations NCYW Refuse the Silence Inside Higher Ed Ms. Magazine AAC&U’s On Campus With Women Guardian UK

22. Thank you! Twitter: @mary_churchill Blog: uvenus.org Email: marylchurchill@gmail.com