“Project” to “Network” but Still “Kernel”
This post explains our decision to change our name from the Kernel Project to the Kernel Network.
Those of you who started following “The Kernel Project” (which started in Fall 2019 and now as of June 2020 includes this website), might have been wondering why the name has been changed to “The Kernel Network.”
It has been exciting to try to get this end-of-life care venture off the ground. Many things have been new to me, including how to give this thing a name. When I started brainstorming for this, I remember a conversation with Jae Doncillo who suggested I try something punchy, like the Jack Project, which advocates for mental health in Canada, and which also goes by “Jack.Org.” I liked the use of “Project” to characterize something different people are working on together. I talk about the “Kernel” part of the name elsewhere.
The funding to create this site came from a SSHRC insight development grant (IDG) and related, matching funds from St. Jerome’s University, given to support a particular research project I was leading. The main idea was to create a website that would help “mobilize” the knowledge resulting from that research (that is, make the results easily available to people interested in them). But since I knew I would be involved in other research projects and other initiatives and partnerships related in one way or another to end-of-life care, I thought I should contextualize the IDG project within a larger web portal capable of housing other research projects among other things (events, blog posts, podcasts, employment opportunities, etc.). So the idea for this site was born, and I gave it the name “The Kernel Project.”
As I began to work collaboratively with others on research, and wanted to host individual research projects on this site, I soon encountered some concern. A co-investigator on the Physicians’ Moral Experience project, Kieran Bonner, asked: If someone is involved in a particular research project, does that mean that they are also by default part of the “Kernel Project”? My immediate reaction was “No.” My intention was that many different people with very different ideas could have their research hosted and/or contribute to the site in other ways without having to “sign up” as members of the Kernel Project. But I could understand the worry, and as I reflected on this and sought counsel on how to proceed (and had further conversations with my collaborator who raised the problem in the first place), I realized that part of a solution would involve changing the name of the site.
“Project” suggests a unified initiative that people are working on together with a shared set of goals and values. And it is definitely my hope that anyone who connects with the Kernel Network will share the goal/value of improving end-of-life care. But within that broad, common goal, there can be multiple differing understandings of what it means to make end-of-life care better. And sometimes these differences might go pretty deep - for instance some folks think a key aspect of improving end-of-life care is to provide broader access to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), while others think it would be better if MAID was not part of the Canadian end-of-life care system at all. Furthermore, “Project” suggests a unified leadership, which could give the impression that different research projects or community partners were “parts” of a single institute and subordinate to the overarching aims of that institute and its leadership. That is a suggestion I would strongly prefer to avoid because it does not reflect the intention behind the creation of the site or what it represents.
Instead, calling this emerging entity “The Kernel Network” conveys the sense that it is a connecting point for multiple, independent people and organizations, who might benefit from knowing what others are doing and who may or may not choose to collaborate on individual projects. “Network” also avoids potential confusion between the nature of the site as a whole and the individual research projects that will hopefully eventually be hosted here. So with all of that thinking in mind, we made the decision to make the move to “The Kernel Network,” and now here we are.
In time, I plan to write up a “mandate” or “charter” statement for this site that spells out in detail what it means to have a research project hosted on this site, or to be listed as a partner. Right now so many things are evolving organically, and we need to be adaptable to change as good reasons to do so present themselves.
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Hello! We are The Kernel Network a connecting point for academic researchers, students, and community partners who share a vision and passion for improving end-of-life care in Canada.
