The Association of Internet Researchers has recognized a recent book by a Rogers State University communications faculty member for advancing research independent of traditional disciplines.
“Off-Track and Online: The Networked Spaces of Horse Racing” by Dr. Holly Kruse, RSU associate professor of communications, received honorable mention in the association’s 2017 Nancy Baym Annual Book Award competition, which recognizes the best work in the field of Internet studies. Judging for the award was done by three eminent scholars in the field.
This year’s Baym Book Award went to “The Age of Sharing” by Nicholas John with Helen Kennedy’s “Post, Mine, Repeat” sharing honorable mention with Kruse’s work, published by MIT Press.
In recognizing the honorable mention awards, the committee noted the two works demonstrated an “innovative approach, originality and breadth of scholarship” that helped distinguished them among the honorees.
In her book, Kruse examined how information technology and the horse racing industry use media in both public and private spaces. She demonstrated that horse racing pioneered technology widely used today, including interactive media environments like social media, online gambling sites, and networked on- and off-track betting facilities.
Kruse joined the RSU Communications Department in 2010. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and her graduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also is the author of “Site and Sound: Understanding Independent Music Scenes,” published in 2003. Kruse has published research in diverse areas of interest, including cultural studies of popular music and social histories of communication technologies.
The Association of Internet Researchers is a member-based, academic association dedicated to the promotion of critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and existing across academic borders. For more information on the organization or the book award, visit aoir.org.
To learn more about Kruse’s work, visit her RSU webpage or her personal website at hollykruse.com.