Monthly Update: December, 2024
My course is ready! December posts. Future plans. Happy holidays!!!
It’s so exciting to write an end-of-the-year monthly update. Last year, on Dec 13, I posted my first monthly update post, and I kept writing one each month (except January 2024) to report on what happened during the month. Looking back, I am so happy I have been able to write a monthly update so regularly. It’s a good way to track the evolution of this newsletter. I am also happy to report that this is my 49th post of the year. My goal for 2024 was to write at least 50 posts, and it seems I might reach my goal by writing my year-in-review post before the end of the year.
Rhetorical Data Visualization Is Ready!
The biggest announcement of this month is that my Rhetorical Data Visualization course is finally ready and open for enrollment. If you want to learn more, you can visit the course website on Maven. There, you’ll find plenty of details and instructions on enrolling or joining the waitlist.
If you follow my updates, you might remember that I have been working on this course for the past year. Developing it has been daunting, and I am incredibly happy to finally make it available to the world. The course is a hybrid format, with recorded video lectures and live meetings on Zoom. It’s a true labor of love and I am looking forward to hearing what people think. If you want to know more, I posted an announcement in a previous post here in the newsletter:
December Posts
This month has been a month of very diverse posts. In addition to the course announcement post I mentioned above, I wrote two other posts: one on the role of publications in academia and one on a personal reflection on the dichotomy between misinformation and misinterpretation.
The posts on publications are the tip of the iceberg of posts I started writing and never published. For some reason, I have always been reticent about publishing posts on academia here, partly because I am not sure they are interesting and partly because they often feel too superficial. Anyhow, this time, I managed to overcome my fear and posted something I feel is very important. I feel strongly that the excessive focus we have on publishing is harming academia and the impact we can have in the world. You can read the whole post here:
I have many more ideas to share in this space, and you might see more posts on this topic in the new year. If you like to read posts on the state and future of academia, please leave a comment below. It would be useful to know if someone enjoys these types of posts.
The second post was also quite unusual, if not in content, in the form I decided to use. I have been thinking about the limitations in the way we talk about misinformation for quite a while. What has been bothering me is an excessive emphasis on censoring and protecting (absolutely legitimate stances if not …) and very limited discussions, if any, on how to empower individuals with knowledge and tools. I did not know how to articulate this idea, and as I am writing this, I still feel my words do not do justice to this complex set of ideas. As a solution, I decided to use a new form, which is just a list of contrasting assertions. The post generated quite some reactions, and overall, they seemed positive. If you missed that post, take a look. It’s very short!
Make sure you don’t read too much into it. It’s meant to be playful while stimulating reflection and reactions. If you take a look, please leave a comment. I’d be curious to hear what you think!
Plans for Next Month/Year
I don’t have fully formed plans for 2025. I’ll use part of my holidays to reflect on the past year and get ready for the new one. Here are some passing thoughts on current and future projects:
Vis for ML series: The series has been lagging behind for a long time. Given the relevance of this topic, I want to keep developing and finalizing the series for the new year.
FILWD video chats and podcast: I had quite some fun producing a few video chats this year, but I have not been able to organize them on a regular basis. Recently, I discovered that Substack makes it incredibly easy to turn my video chat posts into podcasts. In fact, it’s so easy that I have already done that, even if I did not announce it. If you search for FILWD on Spotify, you’ll find the conversations I had so far. In the new year, I might finally decide to take this more seriously. Would you be interested in that? Please let me know in the comments below.
FILWD club (membership program): I have been toying with the idea of creating a membership program tentatively called “FILWD Club.” The idea is to create a paid membership program that allows you to get access to special resources, get discounts on my courses, and participate in monthly club meetings. When I met the FILWD subscribers who participated in my pilot program for RhetVis, they told me that the value of live meetings is huge, and they suggested starting a program to meet with people on a regular basis. I have already tried something similar with the reading clubs in 2024, and I am confident I could produce something really fun and useful for many of you. If you like the idea, please let me know in the comments below!
I have many other ideas, but these are the most urgent/pressing ones. Stay tuned for future updates!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
It’s time to unplug and enjoy the holidays with the loved ones. Christmas is always very special in our family. The kids love the snow, the gifts, the tree, and the nativity set. It’s all so cozy! This is a picture from my living room I took when I started writing this post.
I am incredibly grateful for all I have and for the opportunity to write this newsletter to 2200+ people like you from all over the world. Having access to your inbox and reading your reactions is an absolute privilege, and I am still baffled that this is even possible. What an amazing era to live in! I send everyone my best wishes and lots of love. I hope you will have time to rest and spend time with loved ones.
Happy Holidays!