So why have I decided to refer to the Central European University -my current educational affiliation- if I am really interested in blogging in general and Russian bloggers in particular? That’s simple. Every single blogger –to some extent- refers to his/her personal projects, affiliations, groups etc. in order to gain the trust of the readers (at least that’s what I think, of course among these cases you have the Super-Star bloggers who just indulge in self-advertising or others who carry out ANY TYPE of advertising!) and make the entire experience of blogging a personal affair. Since my first ACTIVE steps as a blogger start in CEU, there is a multitude of reasons why I felt compelled to include it!
I first heard about the University from my beloved Professor Elena Borisovna Duzs who was working in Buda-Pest as a graduate student during the late Soviet times. (just a side note! There is a great documentary entitled “My Perestroika” which is screened at Dickinson College as I type! Now, since eight months have literally galloped over academic stress, pressure, and deadlines, I can definitely compare CEU to a physical prototype of the KhanAcademy (if of course you want to check those lectures...), because of the global reach it has accomplished over its 20 year-old existence. My colleagues (other fellow sleep-deprived students) and my professors are coming from Kyrgystan, Canada, Iran, Russia, Rumania, HUNGARY(I was extremely happy to meet Hungarian people!), Armenia, Ukraine, Estonia, Croatia, Serbia, the US, and so many more. They have taught me just as much I have learnt in the classroom through the random coffee-breaks outside the library. Actually, I have never imagined that such a small place can host such a range of conceptual languages! One can hear students discussing diametrically-opposed topics, in the range of “what did you do over the weekend” up to “Trotsky was a genius but he was constrained by his dogmatism!” (the Trotsky comment came from a lecture delivered by Joshua Rubinstein on February 23rd, 2012: http://www.ceu.hu/node/28188) One of the concomitant consequences of being in this environment was the spiraling of my interest in blogging as a form/medium, a process, and a message. Mainly because bloggers do exactly what the students are doing in that public space outside of library: they are sharing their thoughts.
I said “spiraling” because my first “encounter” with blogging was through P.J. O’ ROURKE; who referred to it in his interview on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2010
“… I do see one pernicious trend, which is blogging. I don't care much for blogging because it is undigested thinking, because it comes straight from the heart, or the lizard brain, or the mouth without due consideration. Very little that gets blogged is of very much worth. Almost everything should be thought over. Don't we all know it from things that we've said to our spouses? That you should think twice before you say anything.”
For O’Rourke, writing is a slow process and one must think very carefully before blogging about his/her thoughts. And by comparing it to “what we usually say to our spouses” I guess he wants to make his remark stronger and underline its dire importance. I paused for a while when I first read it. First of all, does it mean that there is a universal way husbands talk to their wives, after all? But this is beyond the point. According to O’Rourke blogging is a “thing” people do without really thinking. Going back to my CEU colleagues and our discussions, we were pretty much conscious about what we were saying to each other. Moreover, bloggers like Andrew Sullivan, Sergei Morozov and Daniel Drezner (the latter two both write for the Foreign Policy Magazine) and their Russian “colleagues”, such as Alexander Navalny, Andrei Malgin, and Oleg Kozyrev think about the content of their blogs reasonably much. Sullivan elaborated quite extensively on the reasons why he blogs.
Sullivan treats blogging as a new literary form, easily comparable to diary entries which are virtually available for anyone who has the time or/and the will to read them. For bloggers like Drazner, blogging is a new medium for “framing” media issues and a tool for double-checking the mainstream journalists’ conduct. The arguments are “out there” waiting for us; but what is so special about blogging in general and Russian blogging in particular? This is the question my Thesis supervisor started with, while he was sipping his coffee and I was starring at my notes. There were many things swirling in my head at the time, but I decided to be honest and respond with a big “I don’t know” to his question. Hopefully, after actively engaging in blogging and keeping an updated blog for two months I can describe this “blogging-frenzy” in more detail and discover its significance for the Russian context!
I first heard about the University from my beloved Professor Elena Borisovna Duzs who was working in Buda-Pest as a graduate student during the late Soviet times. (just a side note! There is a great documentary entitled “My Perestroika” which is screened at Dickinson College as I type! Now, since eight months have literally galloped over academic stress, pressure, and deadlines, I can definitely compare CEU to a physical prototype of the KhanAcademy (if of course you want to check those lectures...), because of the global reach it has accomplished over its 20 year-old existence. My colleagues (other fellow sleep-deprived students) and my professors are coming from Kyrgystan, Canada, Iran, Russia, Rumania, HUNGARY(I was extremely happy to meet Hungarian people!), Armenia, Ukraine, Estonia, Croatia, Serbia, the US, and so many more. They have taught me just as much I have learnt in the classroom through the random coffee-breaks outside the library. Actually, I have never imagined that such a small place can host such a range of conceptual languages! One can hear students discussing diametrically-opposed topics, in the range of “what did you do over the weekend” up to “Trotsky was a genius but he was constrained by his dogmatism!” (the Trotsky comment came from a lecture delivered by Joshua Rubinstein on February 23rd, 2012: http://www.ceu.hu/node/28188) One of the concomitant consequences of being in this environment was the spiraling of my interest in blogging as a form/medium, a process, and a message. Mainly because bloggers do exactly what the students are doing in that public space outside of library: they are sharing their thoughts.
I said “spiraling” because my first “encounter” with blogging was through P.J. O’ ROURKE; who referred to it in his interview on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2010
One quote in particular is worthwhile considering extensively:
“… I do see one pernicious trend, which is blogging. I don't care much for blogging because it is undigested thinking, because it comes straight from the heart, or the lizard brain, or the mouth without due consideration. Very little that gets blogged is of very much worth. Almost everything should be thought over. Don't we all know it from things that we've said to our spouses? That you should think twice before you say anything.”
For O’Rourke, writing is a slow process and one must think very carefully before blogging about his/her thoughts. And by comparing it to “what we usually say to our spouses” I guess he wants to make his remark stronger and underline its dire importance. I paused for a while when I first read it. First of all, does it mean that there is a universal way husbands talk to their wives, after all? But this is beyond the point. According to O’Rourke blogging is a “thing” people do without really thinking. Going back to my CEU colleagues and our discussions, we were pretty much conscious about what we were saying to each other. Moreover, bloggers like Andrew Sullivan, Sergei Morozov and Daniel Drezner (the latter two both write for the Foreign Policy Magazine) and their Russian “colleagues”, such as Alexander Navalny, Andrei Malgin, and Oleg Kozyrev think about the content of their blogs reasonably much. Sullivan elaborated quite extensively on the reasons why he blogs.
Sullivan treats blogging as a new literary form, easily comparable to diary entries which are virtually available for anyone who has the time or/and the will to read them. For bloggers like Drazner, blogging is a new medium for “framing” media issues and a tool for double-checking the mainstream journalists’ conduct. The arguments are “out there” waiting for us; but what is so special about blogging in general and Russian blogging in particular? This is the question my Thesis supervisor started with, while he was sipping his coffee and I was starring at my notes. There were many things swirling in my head at the time, but I decided to be honest and respond with a big “I don’t know” to his question. Hopefully, after actively engaging in blogging and keeping an updated blog for two months I can describe this “blogging-frenzy” in more detail and discover its significance for the Russian context!
Sounds like a great school!
ReplyDeleteThank you Bill :) Now that the thesis research started it get's EVEN better, since everybody talks about their topics!
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