Student Perspective: SOJC’s New Media and Democracy Conference
Laura Strait is a PhD student of Media Studies in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. She recently co-organized the New Media and Democracy Conference with Dr. Bish Sen, and fellow PhD student Patrick Jones. The conference investigated the changes in global political discourses and practices brought about by the digital revolution. The event was part of the Wayne Morse Center’s theme of inquiry on Media and Democracy. Below, Laura discusses the goals of the conference as well her own experience in organizing the event.
Co-organizing the conference with Dr. Bish Sen and Patrick Jones, was a fantastic experience in bringing cutting-edge international and interdisciplinary theoretical developments into a focused conversation about the current state of “new media and democracy.” The conference aimed to answer a number of questions: How do new media function as an instrument of democratic politics? What role can new media play in the formation of a public sphere? And, to what extent do digital technologies and practices create the conditions for new forms of participatory politics?
Dr. Sang Jo Jong of Seoul National University began this conversation as the keynote speaker, highlighting issues of internet and access in contemporary South Korea. This was taken up early the following day with a panel on informational institutions and their political implications, and followed by localized international work on various forms of new media and their political implications. All of the presentations were so fantastic, and I look forward to any further communication and/or collaboration between such distinguished scholars.
For more information about the conference and guest speakers, please visit the conference website here.