Virtual worlds are now a reality. Virtual worlds allow everyone to create a digital character, or avatar, representing his or her self and to interact with other computer-generated individuals, landscapes, virtually-run global businesses, and in-world institutions in real-time.
Virtual worlds provide a sense of body as well as a flexible sense of identity to participants, and are resulting in endogenously produced economies and social orders emerging in these virtual worlds. Through online communities such as Second Life, avatars interact with millions of residents from around the globe, buying, trading, and selling property, furniture, equipment, and more. The 3-D virtual world currently supports millions of U.S. dollars in monthly transactions. Political candidates are actively campaigning in the virtual world, while a number of sales of virtual assets have resulted in demand in the real world for equivalent items.
On Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, The Halle Institute, Goizueta Business School, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta bring to Emory University the public forum “Virtual Worlds and New Realities in Commerce, Politics, and Society. The forum will address topics surrounding both research and long-term implications of virtual and real-world interactions with regard to commerce, politics, and society. Four panels will be held:
1. 9:00-10:15 am: Virtual Worlds Evolving
2. 10:30-11:45 am: Emerging Virtual Institutions in Business and Politics
3. 1:15-2:30 pm: Mirrored Influence of Virtual and Real-World Elements
4. 2:45-4:00 pm: Possible Futures of Virtual Worlds and Society
Moderators and panelists will include:
Edward Castronova, Indiana University; Robert Bloomfield, Cornell University; Benn Konsynski, Emory University; Bryon Reeves, Stanford University; Rachel Gibson, University of Leicester; Holli Semetko, Emory University; Dmitri Williams, University of Southern California; Bruce Bimber, University of California - Santa Barbara; David Bray, Emory University; John Clippinger, Harvard University; and William Dutton, University of Oxford.
Interested members of the public, practitioners, and academics from multiple fields (to include political science, business, information systems, public health, psychology, sociology, anthropology, library sciences, and more) are invited to participate in the forum.
The impetus for the event grew from a paper published by Business School Professor Benn Konsynski and PhD candidate David Bray on the history and growth of virtual worlds. After generating significant interest online, the idea emerged to offer a course for both political science and business students on Virtual Worlds. Taught by Professor Konsynski and Professor Holli A. Semetko, with assistance from PhD candidate David Bray, the course was offered in fall 2007.
All panels will be held at Goizueta Business School, Emory University, 1300 Clifton Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322. To register for this event, contact The Halle Institute at 404-727-7504.
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The Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning is Emory University’s premier venue for visits by heads of state, distinguished policymakers, and public intellectuals. Established in 1997 with a gift from Claus M. Halle, the Institute brings distinguished visitors into dialogue with the Emory and Atlanta community and provides a forum for research and expert meetings on issues of global importance. For more information on The Halle Institute, visit www.halleinstitute.emory.edu or call 404-727-7504.
Emory University is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.
Founded in 1919, and known as the Emory Business School until 1994, Roberto C. Goizueta Business School offers bachelor of business administration (BBA), master of business administration (MBA), and doctorate of philosophy (PhD) in business degrees and is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The BBA program provides its students with a pragmatic professional education as well as a grounding in the theory, principles, and techniques of analysis, organization, planning, and control common to all institutions. The flexible curriculum allows liberal arts electives, study abroad for a semester, and a double major with Emory College. In 1997, the business school moved into a new state-of-the-art facility that incorporates numerous technological innovations, a spacious student study environment, and attractive classroom space.
