Seven billion voices

by MARTIN HIESLMAIR

There is hardly any other field that has changed our lives such as the technology that links us human beings worldwide. The World Wide Web brings people together with their concerns, their problems and their stories. We spoke with Laina Greene, member of the jury at this year’s Prix Ars Electronica of the category “Digital Communities,” about why digital communities can move us forward, if there could be the danger that we do not hear anyone when everybody starts to speak, and how important the social context is for the evaluation of projects.

Read more about the Digital Communities category at Ars Electronica on their blog

The NMC Summer Conference is a one-of-a-kind event, attracting highly skilled professionals interested in the integration of emerging technologies into teaching, learning, and creative inquiry.

Who should attend? The NMC invites all change agents within learning-focused institutions and organizations to make their mark at the 2014 NMC Summer Conference. Attendees will gain tremendous insight on planning for, implementing, and evaluating cutting-edge technologies to enhance teaching and learning. The NMC Summer Conference regularly attracts university CIOs and CTOs, faculty, teachers, technologists, K-12 administrators, education policymakers, museum and library leaders, and other key decision-makers, as well as education innovators across major corporations. This annual event gives many opportunities for the close-knit community of attendees to really get to know each other and discuss their work and big ideas — both formally and informally.

Who presents? NMC Summer Conference presenters are thought leaders within the education industry at colleges and universities, schools, museums, libraries, organizations, and companies. They are the people pushing the envelope to infuse innovation and creativity into learning experiences worldwide. Past plenary session speakers have included Father of the Internet and Google’s VP and Chief Internet Evangelist, Vinton Cerf; MIT Media Lab Director, Joichi Ito; Chancellor of the Open University and Oscar-winning producer, Lord David Puttnam; and former Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, Karen Cator.

What are the objectives and topics? The NMC Summer Conference continues to build a program that is action-oriented and informed by research and practice, while also being inventive and visionary. All sessions are organized by Horizon Project-inspired pathways, in order to focus on the technologies, trends, and challenges that are making a huge impact on teaching and learning: 3D Printing and Making, Data Visualization Technologies, Digital Strategies, Games and Gamification, Learning Technologies, Media Production, and Social Media Technologies, and Visualization Technologies. All pathways include topics related to higher education, K-12, libraries, museums, and informal learning.

See details on this year’s conference and register for the event here

Feminist Scholars Digital Workshop

 Monday, June 16th – Sunday, June 22nd, 2014

The Feminist Scholars Digital Workshop is an online, asynchronous, interdisciplinary, participant-driven workshop for scholars and individuals working on feminist-oriented research projects.  The goal of the workshop is to create an online space where participants can exchange scholarship and ideas.

Information about this year’s program is available here and you can follow along on Twitter  #FSDW14

 
We are thrilled to announce the first cohort of New Media and Culture Certificate program graduates. We will miss the energy and intellectual curiosity they bring to campus, but look forward to seeing the amazing scholarly, artistic, and technological contributions we know they will produce in the years ahead. Congratulations to all!

Jacob Levernier, Psychology

Specializes in: Psychology, data ethics, data/code literacy, statistics, moral development

Graduating from UO: Spring 2016

Website: In March 2014, while I was a student in the NMCC, I launched http://AdUnumDatum.org, a new personal website for sharing data-related tutorials and ethics discussions.

In my current work, I am attempting to build skills and knowledge at the intersection of Psychology, data analysis, and ethics. Through the NMCC, I have gained a broader perspective that draws from Journalism and Philosophy in addition to my home discipline of Psychology. In addition, through the NMCC’s relationship with the Digital Scholarship Center, I have met other students and faculty and staff with whom I am particularly excited to continue to work in the future (this term, I am a Graduate Affiliate of the Digital Scholarship Center, and am applying what I’m learning from discussions there to my NMCC coursework, and vice versa). The combination of quantitative and qualitative training not only recognized but also required by the NMCC has improved my graduate education by adding an additional type of richness and interdisciplinary breadth that it would otherwise lack.

Jenny Dean, Communication & Society

Specializes in: Journalism & changing technologies

Graduating from UO: 2016

I am currently working on research about the changing role of the reporter in the newsroom with a focus on what role technology is playing. It is a qualitative study where I interview newsroom writers and photographers about their experience today and 10 years ago. Having a strong background in new media and culture is an essential part of my work.

Brant Burkey, Media Studies

Specializes in: Media Studies, Participatory Media, Journalism, Media Theory & Criticism, Media Ethics, Memory Studies

Graduating from UO: Spring 2014

Post-Graduation plans: Assistant Professor of Communications, CSU Dominguez Hills

My research involves the effects of multimodal platforms and social media on cultural heritage and collective memory practices in the new media landscape. I introduce the concepts of multimodal memory practices and platformed communities of memory.

Emily McGinn, Comparative Literature

Specializes in: Global Modernisms, Latin American Literature, Irish Literature, Science and Literature

Graduating from UO: Spring 2014

Post-Graduation Plans: Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Digital Humanities, Lafayette College
Website: http://www.scholarlyediting.org/2014/editions/intro.markonthewall.html

My research is focused on the impact of new technologies like the gramophone, on narrative form in the modernist era (1890-1940) as well as the global exchange of ideas and circulation of technologies. The NMCC has allowed me to connect this research into current issues of technology and text and to participate more fully in the arena of Digital Humanities.

Ryan Eanes, Media Studies

Specializes in: User interface design & user experience; mobile technologies

Graduating from UO: Spring 2015

Website: www.ryanean.es

Ryan Eanes continues to research new media and social media as they intersect with the so-called “third space” between home and the workplace.

Jeremy Swartz, Communication & Society

Specializes in: Aesthetics; Philosophy of Communication and Technology; Media and Communication Theory, History, and Ethics; Digital Anthropology and Media Archaeology

Graduating from UO: Spring 2015

The certificate extends my background in curating participatory and collaborative arts, media, and publics while engaging multi-modal coursework. It has inspired me to continue my work in integrating philosophy, communication, and design with emphases in intellectual property law and digital identity along with physical-virtual environments and ecologies.

 Iris Bull, Media Studies

Specializes in: Game studies

Graduating from UO: Spring 2014

Website: Iris is active on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/ibull 

Iris’s NMCC coursework explored virtual worlds from an interdisciplinary perspective.  Drawing from computer science, geography, and communications, Iris was able to study the political characteristics of videogame software.