New year, open road ahead

For those who aren't clear where I've been living and what exactly I've been doing, you're not alone. The answers to these two questions are: "nowhere" and "good question, I was just wondering that myself."

I don't generally use this blog to document the details of my travel movements or my personal life. That is unlikely to change. But many people I've heard from over the holidays are under the impression that I still live in Hong Kong. That hasn't actually been the case since last January, so I thought it might be useful to post an update here.

I moved to Hong Kong in January 2007 to teach online journalism and conduct research about the Chinese Internet at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre. Thanks to a grant from the Open Society Institute, early last year I went on unpaid leave from HKU to work on a book whose shape keeps changing, and which has required being on the road a great deal of the time.   It has evolved from a book about China's impact on the global Internet to something more like a manifesto for global "netizenship." Stay tuned...

In late January I will move to Princeton to take up a one-semester visiting fellowship at the Center for Information and Technology Policy, during which time I hope to get the book done. I ended up deciding not to renew my contract with Hong Kong University for a couple of reasons. First, I want to continue working full-time on the book. Second, my professional and personal interests have evolved in a direction that isn't so compatible with teaching journalism full-time in Hong Kong.

I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing after July, but I've decided to spend the next few months focusing on the immediate task at hand, leaving the future to sort itself out later in the year. Most likely I will stay on the East Coast of the U.S. I'm very much looking forward to whatever happens next. The past six years since I left CNN have been truly amazing.

Meanwhile it's likely that my blogging over the next few months will continue to be sporadic and relatively minimal.

Comments

[Gilfishdad]

Hello Rmack, Thank you for your blogging and your twitter posts. Some busy folks depend on you for news and relish your thoughts about China. My own desire to stay informed is tempered by a concern to not irritate the folks in charge should it be in my future to return to China and maybe to teach school there one day. No doubt someone there will read this post. I am always curious about what your thoughts are about what is happening here and elsewhere in the world. Looking forward to purchasing your book.

Please encourage the students at Princeton to treat others with kindness and respect. They are a privileged lot and may graduate smart but not all-knowing. Good luck and

God Bless!