Conference Spotting

A few months ago, I described the color-blind ideology as "the French model," due to the fact that color-blindness has found its purest home in the land of the Gauls (and also, admittedly, because I figured it would annoy those on the right who like to think of Europe as enthralled by hyper-liberal multiculturalism). This stood in contrast to the American system which permits some color-consciousness (affirmative action being the key example).

But it seems the language has penetrated. Paul Secunda has the goods on an upcoming conference in Paris exploring comparative race relations. From the announcement: "Should Europe adopt US-style affirmative action? Should the US embrace the French model of color blindness?"

The Digital Identity of University

Tomorrow afternoon I will facilitate the Digital Identify of University working group at Harvard Law School's Internet & Society conference. Here is the description of the working group:

With digital tools such as message boards, social networks, and search engines making University and its clients’ identities more public than ever, navigating the integrated media landscape for students and other members of University has become increasingly difficult. In a world where anonymous postings can have lasting effects on the professional and personal lives of students, and when University clients and their digital identities can be expressions of the University as a whole, this workshop will focus on how we begin to navigate this space and how we form the digital identity of University.

The panel is in Pound Hall 107 from 1:45 to 3:30PM. I will likely blog about some of the issues discussed sometime next week.