You've probably heard by now about how the internet will change our world, transforming it into a global village , and leading to the death of nations, national borders and nationalisms (check for instance an interview with internet guru, Nicholas Negroponte).

In this PhD research project, I am taking a skeptical position on such views. My research tries to see if and how we draw national boundaries in our understanding of the internet.

Internet Communication

I am looking in particular at how Canadians understand the internet and how our identification as Canadians may influence the way we make sense of the internet (what the internet is, what we can do with it and how we use it).

I want to see how pre-existing views of the social world and our place in it (like nationalism) may influence our understanding of new communication technologies, like the internet. This is not something new: researchers have looked at the connection between nationalism and print, radio, television and telecommunications.

However, the connection between nationalism and the internet has remained largely untouched. This is surprising, given that the internet has been popularized as undermining the nation and as a promoter of globalization.