Monday Morning with Foucault

It's amazing the thoughts that come pouring into the brain during an early a.m. run. Today is not a particularly lovely spring day - cloudy, around 50 degrees with gusty winds from the SE, and rain is on the way - but the run was one of the best I've had in recent weeks and left me feeling inspired. Must be the adrenalin high.

So, how does Foucault fit into this? Over the past few months, I've been preparing my dissertation prospectus, human subjects materials, and dissertation proposal. While the chair of my committee told me I didn't need to do any additional reading, I felt that my current perspective felt tired. Perhaps that was merely a reflection of the physical tiredness I've been feeling from training for a half-marathon, but I was in the market for inspiration.

Luckily, Dr. Elisabeth Davenport visited IU at the end of January during an unprecedented snowstorm. Following her discussion on dialogic methods in information science, I was able to talk to her about her interest in social media. In addition, she pointed me in the direction of some of her colleagues who are currently involved in social media research, including virtual worlds.

One scholar in particular who has caught my attention is Dr. Siân Bayne. In the several articles and book chapters I've read thus far, Bayne takes a more critical approach that most elearning scholars. Because reading much of the educational literature is like consuming an endless amount of cotton candy at the county fair, Bayne's references to philosophers such as Foucault and the points she makes about the limitations of digital spaces was like adding a serving of fruits and vegetables to an otherwise unhealthy diet.

Through Bayne's work, as well as a piece on virtual topographies by Mark Nunes, I stumbled upon Foucault's work on "other spaces." In that article, which originally served as the basis of a lecture presented in 1967, Foucault discusses utopias, or "unreal spaces," environments that have no place. In contrast, he presents the concept of heterotopias, which are based on real places, but at the same time are unreal, as well. In his discussion, Foucault outlines five principles of heterotopias: 1) all societies likely have a heterotopia; 2) existing heterotopias that whose function can by altered by a society; 3) the juxtaposition of heterotopias, some of which may be dissimilar, in the same space; 4) heterotopias linked to time (i.e., heterochronies) and breaks with traditional time; and 5) entrance into and exit out of the heterotopia.

As I was trying to wrap my head around these principles of heterotopias, the characteristics of Second Life (SL) came to mind. First, several scholars claim that today's students are a different type of learner - they want an educational experience that is unlike traditional teaching and learning interactions. Next, education is undergoing changes such as moving from a physical classroom to an online space. Third, in SL entities that individuals may not find located in the same part of town may be neighbors in this virtual world. For example, an island were educational activities occur may be located next to a risque nightclub. The fourth principle - time - also applies to the SL environment. In-world, following SL time (SLT) is the norm. Individuals unfamiliar with SL may not realize it at first, but SLT is simply Pacific Time. And finally, SL is free, which means that it is open to everyone. Yet, at the same time, the steep tech requirements exclude individuals who cannot afford high-end computers.

I'm still trying to determine how to incorporate the concept of heterotopias into my own work and how they related to SL. At present, it has served as rich food for thought.