Author: Sven Daniel Wolfe
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A rather ridiculous amount of media attention
As I mentioned before, one of the advantages of working on a popular topic like mega-events is that your work periodically attracts outsized media attention. It was no different this year during the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics. Even though I don’t specifically work on Tokyo – and always recommend speaking to experts with direct…
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Cancel the summer of super-spreader mega-events
This being a personal academic blog, obviously I tend to share more of my successes rather than setbacks or failures. That said, I think it’s important to share some of the more challenging moments too, so that’s what this one will be about. Back in 2015, I was fortunate enough to have a commentary on…
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Olympics, sustainability, Tokyo, and the media
Our team at the University of Lausanne has been getting some attention since we published a rather large paper on the sustainability of the Olympic Games from 1992 to 2020. Martin Müller, our team leader, was on Swiss television recently, and as I write, my colleague David Gogishvili is being interviewed by an influential architecture…
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Ambizione submission, rejection, and acceptance data: twelve years of great and tough news
I have a year and a half left of funding for my current project, so this means two things: 1) get busy publishing and 2) find a new gig. The Swiss National Science Foundation has a lot of generous offerings, and I’ve got some ideas that I think are important and would like to bring…
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The give and take of virtual conferences
I finished a month of rather active conference participation, first at the American Association of Geographer’s annual meeting in virtual Seattle, and then the Dislocating Urban Studies workshop in virtual Malmö. I have mixed feelings about our new virtual world. One obvious benefit is the ability to participate in exciting discussions from around the globe,…
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New special issue out now: The urban and economic impacts of mega-events
It’s been a long road, but finally our special issue is complete and out in the (virtual) world at last. Some lessons learned about special issues and collaborative publishing projects: It’s going to take longer than you want or expect. Everyone is busy, overwhelmed, working on a last-minute project. Budget in more time than you…
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A quick example of pernicious Russophobia
I’ve been attacked from all sides for making comments about contemporary Russia and Russian politics. I’ve been told that I’m in the pocket of Putin, or at the very least a naive “useful idiot”. Simultaneously, that same comment led others to tell me that I am Russophobic, a blind westerner who does not understand anything,…
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Translocal teaching and Zoom: perils, problems, and pleasures
I taught a block course over the last week on urban theory. It was all on Zoom, which is hardly surprising anymore. What was new for me was that I was teaching a group of PhD students in Nigeria. I’ve never been to Nigeria, unfortunately, and I’d love to go. Given the state of world…