Here.
While wandering aimlessly through the internets, I came upon an absolutely fascinating blog. Certain Doubts, an epistemology blog. That's right, an epistemology blog. The posters are all relatively well-know philosophers (read: I had to study them for my class), and their posts, while sometimes borderline incomprehensible, are interesting and exciting.
Here's an example of the kind of posting they do. Check out the comments section, sometimes is livelier than this, but just check it out. This is a much more accessible, much more vibrant way of entering academic discourse than, as a student, pouring of JSTOR trying to find journal articles. Blogging is, by it's nature, an interactive medium. When it's not (like some of the blogs for bigger publications), it loses a lot of its power. That's why a blog like Swampland (one end of the spectrum: posters never really respond to comments) can't match the appeal of a place like DailyKos (the other end of the spectrum: almost completely comment run).
It makes me wonder if something like this could be done at Oberlin. Here's the idea: Wilder Voice (or an entirely new publication, it doesn't really matter), runs a blog. The blog features three or four guest posters for two weeks or so. The posters are paid by Oberlin College to have a certain minimum number of posts. They have to be in dialog with each other through their posts. One week it could be foremost bloggers/intellectuals on international relations. The next, philosophy. The next, cinema studies. The blog would be managed and "edited" (not direct editing, but in consultation with the guest posters) by students, and a couple students would get to post the introduction to the topic du jour in a lengthy-er creative non-fiction piece.
I think it's a kick-ass idea, and a great way to demonstrate Oberlin's commitment to new media, new forms of discourse, and its institutional adaptability and also a great way to bring academic studies into the blogging world.
Thoughts? Comment away, reader(s).
P.S. bonus points for the barn picture reference...
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