Debora Halbert
I completed my B.A. (1989) and M.A. (1992) at Western Washington University and my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1996). Upon graduation from UH, I accepted a tenure track job at Otterbein College, a small liberal arts college outside of Columbus, Ohio were I taught in the Department of History and Political Science for twelve years. Since 1996, I have taught courses across the discipline. I am especially interested in offering courses on technology law and policy, public policy, futures studies, legal studies and alternative methodologies. In 2008, I returned to the Political Science department where I now teach courses in futures studies, public policy, and law and society.
My scholorship focuses on the politics of intellectual property and I have published two books on the subject, Intellectual Property in the Information Age: The Politics of Expanding Property Rights (Quorum, 1999) and Resisting Intellectual Property (Routledge, 2005). Given my critical approach to copyright issues, I try, whenever possible, the publish my work in open access journals that do not rely upon copyright. Aside from my ongoing work on intellectual property issues, I have begun a new project that seeks to map the myriad ways people undermine the nation-state through participation in temporary autonomous zones, virtual worlds, intentional communites, or as expatriates.,
In the summer of 2009, I began my tenure as the Graduate Chair. I have an open door policy regarding advising. Thus, if you see my door open, please feel free to stop by. Aside from academic life, I am an avid rock climber and have taken up competitive sailing.
You can see a full copy of my C.V. here (updated Summer 2009), but some of my recent publications include:
"The Labor of Creativity: Women's Work, Quilting and the Uncommodified Life," Transformative Works and Cultures, [Forthcoming], 2009, 3, available at: http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/index.
"Mass Culture and the Culture of the Masses: A Manifesto for User-Generated Rights," Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, Summer 2009, 11(4): 921-962.
"The Political Geography of Geneva: Mapping Globalization and its Discontents," Borderlands, May 2008, 7 (1) available at: http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol7no1_2008/halbert_geneva.htm.
"Resistance in the Digital World," In: Information Property and Information Wealth: Issues and Practices in the Digital Age. Vol. 4. Peter Yu (ed). Praeger, 2007.
"The World Intellectual Property Organization: Past, Present and Future," Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA, Winter-Spring 2007, 54(2-3): 253-284.
"Feminist Interpretations of Intellectual Property," American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the LawI, 2006, 14 (3): 431-460.