Focault’s discourse

According to foucault, in the past the formation of discourse required to follow the discursive regularities and structures. In addition, he indicated that Knowledge is generated and constructed through different disciplines that are established groups of discourse that comprise what can become objects of knowledge and enunciating subject, who has authority to speak about them. Nowadays, the emerging of social media provides opportunity for people free to say just anything, whenever they like or wherever they want. Individualized social web users could be a travel expert that can be seen as reliable for his/her audiences to speak about the topic. The user generated content of social web can also establish and develop more trust than tradition commercial web. Social media allow individual to sustain social interaction with a large and diverse network of contacts. For instance, traveler can share their travel experiences with their friends, family, and even strangers by posting their photos, blogs, and videos. The developing of social media facilitated communication that can generate knowledge through collaboration on the web world widely. Focault pointed out that “a regular linguistic construction is not required in order to form a statement” (p.86). Thus, the unstructured information and conversations produced by social web users can communicate, document and preserve knowledge.

In order to produce messages easily interpretation and to make suitable form for its participants, communication and representation play important role in semiotics. The major notation in semiotics is the sign making including signifiers (the form) and signified (the meaning). The concept of denotation relates to the signified that an image denotes something to communicate with participants. In our society, we use a variety of visual signs to represent and communication. The meaning of visual sign may be interpreted or constructed differently across culture. However, a sign may also have common meaning in different culture such as the signs of restrooms. For instance, when I traveled to Italy, even though I do not know Italian language, I could easily find the restroom by finding the sign. In addition, when we travel to a tourist attraction, we always look for the monument in the local host. The monument is designed to convey historical information and to communicate about important events or figures from the past.In our society, we use a variety of visual signs to represent and communication. The meaning of visual sign may be interpreted or constructed differently across culture. However, a sign may also have common meaning in different culture such as the signs of restrooms. For instance, when I traveled to Italy, even though I do not know Italian language, I could easily find the restroom by finding the sign. In addition, when we travel to a tourist attraction, we always look for the monument in the local host. The monument is designed to convey historical information and to communicate about important events or figures from the past.">

In leisure, the concept of place identity holds that places provide the source of self-identification and places have meaning to the people who value the relationship to the places. According to William (2002) “we chosen leisure place not merely because they are useful for leisure, but to convey the sense of who we are” (p.353). The monument can communicate with people about historical information and provide symbolic meaning for a place. Thus, expanding from Foucault’s idea of sign, signified, and signifier, our group chose to develop a Scavenger Hunt for this assignment. We would like tosee how the sign and monument of Clemson Campus denotes something to communicate with our participants.

Looking at the architecture and infrastructure of Clemson's campuse, the Scavenger hunt acts to expose the instability and maluability of language and meaning. Our hope is that a richer "statement" will emerge with the results found from each groups findings.

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Yu's story

Here is the link to Yu's story.
http://www.wix.com/yuchin0806/yuchih

Character in WOW

Yhuang is the character representing myself in the on line 3D virtual game of World of Warcraft. Before entering the 3D virtual game, I need to learn how to dress myself and customize my appearance. I think that the choices of characters’ appearances in world of warcraft may reflect people’s personality in physical world and also indicate images that people want to present themselves in this virtual environment. Besides, in the virtual world, people can switch their gender, and change their race through the changing of appearances. While the almost unlimited combinations of features available in the online game of world of warcraft are a way to custom designs and ensures characters uniqueness. At beginning, I chose a warrior to begin the game but I was not very skill to perform his ability. I also took two days to get familiar the virtual environment and to practice the navigational skills. After I learned more control on my character, I started to complete the quest to gain experience to level my character in world of warcraft. However, I fail to perform my first character,warrior, ability to complete the quests and I cannot get out the place that I fall into. I decide to quite the character and chose another character, a hunter, to restart my battle. It is also the advantage of virtual environment, people can change their characters and adopt a new virtual body, and assume multiple identities. The online game of world of warcraft provides communications to facilitate social networking and offers a somewhat realistic experience to online player. For example, during my leveling I often time fail to complete quests because of battling along. Sometime I tried to add other players to join the battle and become a friend to help each other. It is also another advantage to interact with other players and get social interaction in virtual game. After gaining more experience and levels, I finally got to the level 14. I found that the leveling became difficult when players play along. Thus, I realize that to level the character in world of warcraft not only the time but also the team work.

Baudrillard-II

Based on Baudrillardian’s ideas, there is no authentic reality. “When the real is no longer what it used to be, nostalgia assumes its full meaning. There is a proliferation of myths of origin and signs of reality; of second-hand truth, objectivity and authenticity. There is an escalation of the true, of the lived experience; a resurrection of the figurative where the object and substance have disappeared” (1994: 6-7). One of the most perplexing questions which everyone deal with is “what is real and what is not real?”.

However, our group did find a real media, clay, to break away his view of the simulacrum and hyperreality. The materials and means of production are authentic since clay artifacts must be hand-formed, hand thrown using clay from the designated region. In addition, the clay arts comprised the interrelated cultural meaning in today society. Every culture has systems of meaning embedded in the clay artifacts. Baudrillardian pointed out that “in the US… culture is space, speed, cinema, technology. This culture is authentic, if anything can be said to be authentic” (1988: 100). Thus, clay artifacts can be a representation of an authentic culture at different stages of human history. In travel and tourism, we also talk about the authenticity of the trip experiences. International travel provides people the opportunities of interacting with different cultural backgrounds for local residents. Looking for experience and authenticity is an important motivation for traveling. When one travel to a tourism destination, he/she like to purchase clay artifacts, while providing the opportunity to exhibit conspicuous consumption and also allowed he/she to participate in the authentic experience of the culture.

Entertainment Discourse

Here is the link to mystroy-entertainment discourse

Potential Question for Ulmer

The potential question for Ulmer is the following:
Ulmer pointed out that “Internet as a medium of learning put us in a new relation to writing” (p1) and “the invention concerns how the new technologies might affect our working conditions and teaching practices and what we might do to reduce the negative aspects and enhance the positive” (p.5). As a virtual revolution is emerging in media environments, it is believed that the 3D virtual world environment will gain more attention and become more pervasive as a new educational tool. I was wondering if the emergence of the 3D virtual environment will create another new practice of “Internet Intervention” and how the 3d virtual environment will affect the composition of “Mystory”.

Simulacra and Simulation-Part I

In Baudrillard’s book, he discussed the images, signs system, and symbolic meaning in today’s society. He argued that “simulations in no longer that a territory of referential being or a substance, and it is the generation by models of a real without an origin or reality, a hyperreal” (p.1). Baudrillard employed the idea of simulacra to refer that electric media and signs system can create the perceived reality and that makes people to believe an identifiable reality exists. He claimed that “present-day simulators attempt to make the real all of the real coincide with their models of simulation” and “it is a hyperreal produced from a radiating synthesis of combinatory models in a hyperspace without atmosphere” (p.2) . Baudrillard also asserted that “pretending or dissimulating, leaves the principle of reality intake, and simulation threaten the difference between the true and false, the real and the imaginary” (p.3).

Baudrillard discussed four kinds of simulacrum, “1) it is the reflection of a profound reality; the image is a good appearance”; “2) it masks the denatures a profound reality; the image is an evil appearance”; 3)”it masks absence of a profound reality; image plays at being an appearance”; 4)” it has no relation to any reality whatsoever, it is not longer of the order of appearances but of simulation” (p.6). There is not a clear distinction between the reality and representation. In Baudrillard’s book, he used Disneyland which is an ideal model of all orders of simulacrum as an example to discuss hyperreal and imaginary. Baudrillard claimed that Disneyland is presented as imaginary to create a false reality and make it for people to believe this reality. False reality in Disneyland enables visitors to satisfy their imagination and daydream fantasies in real life and simulated imaginary allow people to visit out space without leaving the earth. It does not matter whether the fantasies in Disneyland are real or false, since there is no original that can be used to compare. The question raised is that how authentic is the simulated experience compared with the natural or original activity?

In travel and tourism, we also talk about the authenticity of the trip experiences. International travel provides people the opportunities of interacting with different cultural backgrounds for local residents. Looking for experience and authenticity is an important motivation for traveling. The authenticity of the tourism products such as works of art, traditional events and dress, depends on whether they are made or enacted by local people according to custom or tradition. When people travel to a destination, they want to explore the heritage site, and historical monuments to experience the social culture of host destination. Accompany with the commercialization of tourism services, tourism business began to alter local culture and customs to satisfy tourists’ expectations. For example, the local residents perform the traditional dance in a stage to visitors that can experience the social culture of host regions. The staged performance of traditional customs in the tourist destination is not always authentic to the original customs which refer to staged authenticity. However, from the postmodernism point of view, tourists do not concern about the authentic travel experiences since there is not real or fake.

My story part 2- Family discoruse

Here is the link to my story part 2-family discourse.
http://www.wix.com/yuchin0806/yuchih

Virilio Part 2

Our group picked up’s virilio ideas of cyber love relationship, cyber-feminism and space-time matter for this week’s discussion. Each of us will address one of the issues in our blog to find the interrelationship among cyber-feminism, cyber love and space-time.

In page 67, Virilio stated that “lack of any limit apart from the cosmological constant of the speed of reality waves would quickly induce us to practice long distance love” “not the courtly love of Middle ages any more, but the virtual love permitted by the sensory feats of cybersex with demographic consequences for humanity that go without saying thanks to the invention of such a universal condom”.

Second Life provides people with virtual bodies and identities in virtual environments. People create avatar on behalf of themselves to interact with other beings. The avatar’s appearance tends to indicate the images that people want to present for themselves. With the multiple communication channels in 3D virtual worlds, users can meet with other people to satisfy their social needs. Hemp (2006) stated that within Second Life, avatars of flesh-and-blood individuals can be an intense experience -- living in the skin of an avatar, looking through its eyes and engaging with other beings. In the virtual world, relationships can be developed the same way as in real life. People can know more about each other through conversations, voice chat, and instant messages. For instance, you can meet someone in a dancing club and it is a very convenient way for avatars to begin a conversation. Then, if you find some common interests and mutual understanding, both of you will go to find some thrill and enjoyment together in virtual worlds. The time you spent together will develop real feelings for each other. Through emotional and mental intimacies, people can develop serious relationships within virtual worlds. Numerous virtual-world friendships lead to virtual marriage/real-world marriages.

Virtual wedding in Second Life


Here is an article of virtual marriage in Second Life

Far from reproducing the usual dichotomy between the pleasure of the senses- the art for art’s sake of the sex act, and the act of the flesh intended to engender family descendants, the tele-technologies of remote love are inaugurating not only a furtive from of remote birth control but also beginnings of a hyper divorce that will eventually endanger the future of human beings.” P109.
The virtual relationship may bring some negative impacts on physical relationship. In real world, if you catch your partner having an affair with another person, it is emotionally devastating that may end up with a broken marriage. But if your partner having a relationship and in the act with other person in virtual world, do you think it is some kind of cheating or it is nothing rather than a game?

Here is an article from CNN reporting a man who was caught by his physical wife, having cybersex with another woman in Second Life. Their marriage ends up with the divorce.
Second Life affair ends in divorce

Another negative impact of virtual relationship is that it is much easier to develop a “cyber-imaginary” capable of becoming a tool to present a false image of self than in physical world. It is also easy to develop emotional intimacy, trust in a virtual relationship because people think they are safe and may do something they will not do in the physical world. Hemp (2006) claimed that avatars comprise not only complex beings created for use in a virtual environment but any visual representation of a user in an online community that is the most conspicuous online expression of people’s desire to try out alternative identities or project some private aspect of themselves. Thus, how the virtual relationship affects people’s physical relationship and life will be an interesting area to investigate.

Virilio part 1

The Google Wave of our discussions of Virilio part 1 can not be embedded in my blog . Please check our Google wave.

My story- career discoure

In Ulmer’s book, he mentioned that he employed the website as the medium of instruction and learning to represent his pedagogy. He stated that” the best way to learn about the potential of websites and the internet for supporting learning is to invent a new practice of writing native to hypermedia” (P.Xiii) and that “the invention concern how the new technologies might affect our working condition and teaching practice and what we might do to reduce the negative aspects and enhance the positive” (p.5). His statement of Internet intervention in higher education motivates me to think the educational potential of new medium of 3D virtual worlds in educations.

Nowadays students have been heavily influenced by information technology like i-Phones, PDAs, and online networks; traditional lecture format and aging infrastructure of universities and colleges cannot meet their expectations (Oblinger, 2003). Currently I am interested in exploring the educational potential of second life, and the information technology in travel and tourism may become my primarily discipline discourse. The virtual environment provides opportunity for students to develop social skill, attend life events, and facilitate collaboration.

Here is a medical education example in SL Educational institutions began to use the virtual environment to provide training program for medical students. Learning in virtual worlds provide wide access for geographically remote student, distance learners and offer a risk free environment for student to practice medical skills. Medical education in SL


Another example associated with education implications is virtual conference.

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One example related to travel and tourism is that Virtual Hotel are providing conference room for for people looking to hold virtual meetings in SL. Like Inter Continental Hotels

conference in Lugano

ENTER2010, the 17th International Federation of IT in Travel and Tourism conference, held at Lugano, Switzerland on Feb 10-12. Participating in this conference provided me opportunity to meet experts from academics, industry, destination managers and to gain updated knowledge and information in E-Tourism through dialogue. The conference also offers great opportunity to develop social networking and exchange research idea.

Getting to Lugano, we took flight from New York to Milan Airport and stayed in Milan for first two days in our trip. It was our first time to visit Europe. We also took the opportunity to visit several tourism destinations in Milan city.

Milan Central station

The first tourism spot we visited is Milan Central station, a historical building with modern intern facility. We also took train from central station to Lugaon, Switzerland.

Milan Cathedral

The second tourist spot is Milan Cathedral, one of the greatest churches in the world. Tourists are allowed to visit the roof that offer a chance to view some spectacular sculpture but we did not have a chance to go on the roof.

Castello Sforzesco
Sforza Castle, a very well kept castle. Now it houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), the host of ENTER 2010 Conference, is a multilingual university and lectures are given in both Italian and English. It is also only one Italian speaking school outside the Italy.

Our presentation on Feb 11th in the auditorium of University of Lugano.










Our first day in the conference. The ENTER 2010 used twitter and Flicker to provider updated information and image about the conference.











On our way back to Milan, we visited a very popular tourist attraction, Lake Como which is also popular retreat for wealthy people. Currently, many celebrities have real estate on the shore of Lake Como like George Clooney.









Bellagio
We took a boat to visit Bellagio, a small town located in the intersection of three branches of Y shape of Lake Como. We enjoy the beautiful and wonderful view on the way to Bellagio.











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