8/22/11
Effects Of New Media On Culture, Society Explored In SLU Talk
CANTON - Michael Wesch, associate professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, will give a talk called "Mediated Culture: What's at Stake?" on Tuesday, August 30, at 7 p.m. in Eben Holden at St. Lawrence University. The event, the Hays and Margaret Crimmel Colloquium on Liberal Education, is open to the public, free of charge. It is the opening event in the University's Contemporary Issues Forum, which this year explores issues related to technology, humanity and democracy.
Dubbed "the explainer" by Wired magazine, Wesch spent two years studying the implications of writing on a remote indigenous culture in the rain forest of Papua New Guinea, then turned his attention to the effects of social media and digital technology on global society. His videos on culture, technology, education and information have been viewed by millions, translated in more than a dozen languages, and are frequently featured at international film festivals and major academic conferences worldwide. Recently named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic, Wesch has also won several teaching awards, including the 2008 CASE/Carnegie U.S. Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities.
In his talk, Wesch will explore what is at stake, what is possible, and how new learning environments must be created, allowing students, teachers and researchers to move beyond simply being knowledgeable to being able to find, sort, analyze, criticize, create and collaborate in new media environments.
More: Contemporary Issues website
