In my last few weeks as NMCC’s GTF, I wanted to take some time to say thank you to all the dedicated readers who have been following NMCC’s blog this year. I have really enjoyed working for NMCC, and it has been such a pleasure to get to work with the students and affiliated faculty. I especially want to thank Director Kate Mondloch for her guidance, patience, and support and for giving me the opportunity to help her with the program she so tirelessly leads.
I will be graduating this term with an M.A. in Art History and will be continuing on to law school at the University of New Hampshire next year. In the meantime, I would like to welcome Emily Shinn, the new NMCC GTF who will be taking over starting in September. Thank you all again for a wonderful year!
We are thrilled to announce the NMCC graduates for the 2015-2016 school year, David Staton (SOJC) and Erin Zysett (AAA). We are very proud of the hard work and perseverance that both have displayed in their academic pursuits during their time with us, and we look forward to celebrating their scholarly, artistic, and technological accomplishments in the years ahead. Congratulations class of 2016!!
David Staton, Ph.D. Communication and Society
David Staton is an NMCC June graduate from the School of Journalism and Communication. He says the NMCC program offered him wide opportunities to delve into theory and praxis. “The great thing about the program is how wide open it is. It does have a focus, but I was able to largely determine what that focus would be and I never felt straightjacketed into a program,” Staton notes. The Media Studies PhD will begin his career as an assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado this fall where he’ll specialized in digital storytelling. “It marries new media, the visual and telling stories,” he says of the job. “It couldn’t have worked out much better and the NMCC made me a more attractive candidate, absolutely.”
Erin Zysett, M.A. Arts Management
Erin Zysett is a 2016 NMCC graduate from the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. There is a growing trend among larger museums and heritage organizations to digitize their collections, both their artifact collections, and their back catalog of research publications and books. Erin’s research focuses on the emerging role of e-curatorship in museums, issues of mass digitization projects, and the marketing potential of making collections available online. Erin currently has a job at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance and will continue with her position there next year.
NMCC would like to welcome Juan-Carlos Molleda, the new Edwin L. Artzt Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, and Christoph Lindner, the new Dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, to campus!
“Molleda’s research interests are in global corporate public relations management, public relations practices and regulations, and social roles in Latin America. He has introduced to the international academic community the concept and theory of cross-national conflict and the social roles of public relations in Latin America. He also is active in the professional community—currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Public Relations and a founding member of its Commission on Global Public Relations Research. He serves as Latin American liaison of the Public Relations Society of America’s Certification in Education for Public Relations and a board member of the LAGRANT Foundation.”
“In his research and teaching, he is particularly interested in the interrelations between cities, globalization, and issues of political ecology, sustainability, and creative practice, which he approaches from a comparative, transnational perspective. He is currently Professor of Media and Culture at the University of Amsterdam, where he directs the ASCA Cities Project. He is also the founding Director of the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis (NICA) and a member of the Amsterdam Center for Globalization Studies (ACGS). From 2010-2014, he was Director of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA), a research institute and doctoral school focused on the interdisciplinary study of contemporary society, politics, and culture. In addition, he has held visiting appointments at various universities internationally, including New York University, The New School, University of California-Berkeley, University of Edinburgh, University of Freiburg, Queen Mary University of London, University of Venice, and the University of London Institute in Paris.
LaGuardia Community College‘s Department of Humanities invites applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level to teach undergraduate courses in video production (narrative, documentary, TV studio production) including Video Production I & II, Post Production and Urban Study course, and Film & New York City.
Shared responsibilities include department assignments, including administrative, supervisory, and other functions, such as: Student advisement, curriculum and program development, committee participation, active involvement in co-curricular media program activities, liaising with media industry professionals, and ongoing professional development.
LaGuardia Community College located in Long Island City, Queens, was founded in 1971 as a bold experiment in opening the doors of higher education to all, and we proudly carry forward that legacy today. LaGuardia educates students through over 50 degree, certificate and continuing education programs, providing an inspiring place for students to achieve their dreams. Upon graduation, LaGuardia students’ lives are transformed as family income increases by 17%, and students transfer to four-year colleges at three times the national average. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY), LaGuardia is a nationally recognized leader among community colleges for boundary-breaking success educating underserved students. At LaGuardia, we imagine new ideas, create new curricula and pioneer programs to make our community and our country stronger. Visit www.laguardia.edu to learn more.
QUALIFICATIONS
MFA in video/film production.digital imaging and professional experience in the media/entertainment industry.
The ability to teach dynamically and cooperate with others for the good of the institution is required.
COMPENSATION
Salary is commensurate with education and experience
CUNY offers faculty a competitive compensation and benefits package covering health insurance, pension and retirement benefits, paid parental leave, and savings programs. We also provide mentoring and support for research, scholarship, and publication as part of our commitment to ongoing faculty professional development.
From CUNY’s job posting system, select “Apply Now”, create or log in to a user account, and provide the requested information. If you are viewing this posting from outside our system, access the employment page on our web site, www.cuny.edu, and search for this vacancy using the Job ID or Title.
CANDIDATES SHOULD PROVIDE:
a CV/resume
the contact information for three professional references
Friday, April 22, 2016, 10 AM – 12 PM
Lawrence Hall Room 249
Breakfast will be served
Arts leader, cultural producer and critic Andy Horwitz will offer an interactive presentation on what it means to be an arts manager in the ever-changing cultural landscape. Drawing from the lessons of his own career and current trends in the sector, he will explore the intersection of programming, cultural production, criticism and community engagement. We will combine conceptual frameworks and practical tools to frame possible futures of arts administrators and cultural entrepreneurs in this rapidly evolving field. Hosted by UO Emerging Leaders in the Arts Network (ELAN).
Andrew Horwitz is the Director of Programs at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. A critic as well as a cultural producer, he is the founder of the arts website Culturebot.org and in 2014 was a recipient of the creative Capital | Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for his research project, Ephemeral Objects: Art Criticism for the Post-Material World. In 2013-2014 he was co-organizer of the Brooklyn Commune Project, a grassroots, artist-driven research project in the economics of cultural production in the performing arts that produced a report, The View From Here, which was presented at the APAP Conference in 2014. As the Director of Public Programs for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council where he curated the River to River Festival, a free, month-long multidisciplinary arts festival at sites throughout Lower Manhattan. Previously he worked as Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Foundation for Jewish Culture, Producer at Performance Space 122 and, from 2007-2009, as co-curator of the PRELUDE Festival at the Martin E. Segal Theater Center at the Graduate Center at the Graduate Center at CUNY. Other curatorial projects include “The Future At The End Of The World” at the Farley Post Office (December 2012), “Ephemeral Evidence” at Exit Art Gallery (May 2012) and “Ephemeral Objects” at the San Diego Art Institute (August 2015). He has lectured at universities throughout the United States, Canada and the U.K., most recently leading a graduate seminar on the theory and practice of cultural production in the 21st century at UC San Diego.
“Bish Sen is originally from India, and claims to be the only Indian who doesn’t know how to code. He received his Ph.D in Communications from the University of Illinois. His research interests include mass communications, global media studies and new media theory. His most recent publication Digital Culture and Politics in Contemporary India: The Making of an Info-nation looks at the impact of the digital revolution within the context of a rapidly developing society.”
Dr. Sen will be teaching the required NMCC course “History & Theory of New Media” this spring. Students will get a chance to read about different approaches and theories within new media each week, including topics like computation and technology, networks, digital capitalism, digital law, and more. There will also be the opportunity to present research lab projects in teams, conference style, in order to become familiar with the collaborative nature of new media. The following is an excerpt from the syllabus, courtesy of Dr. Sen:
“The digital revolution has brought about a massive transformation in communication and culture. This course will introduce students to the history of the new media as well as to the key theoretical issues that have emerged in their wake. During the term we will address some of the key categories that are specific to new media: computation, information, networks, machines & the artificial, mobile and social media as well examine how new media processes and practices have impinged upon and reconfigured crucial areas of social life – the law, the economy, self and identity, society and politics, and philosophy.”
A New Book:
Dr. Sen has recently published his book, Digital Politics and Culture in Contemporary India: The Making of an Info-Nation, which focuses on India’s “software miracle” and its emergence as nation that actively engages with new media and the information age. Check it out on Amazon!
“The relationship between information and the nation-state is typically portrayed as a face-off involving repressive state power and democratic flows: Twitter and the Arab Spring, Google in China, WikiLeaks and the U.S. State Department. Less attention has been paid to those scenarios where states have regarded information and its diffusion as productive of modernity and globalization. It is the central argument of this book that the contemporary nation-state, especially in the global South, is far from hostile to the current informational milieu and in fact makes crucial use of it in order to develop adequate modes of governance, communication and sociality in a networked world. This book focuses on India – an emerging country that has recently witnessed a ‘software miracle’ – to highlight the critical role informatics has historically played in the national imagination and to demonstrate how the state, private capital and civic society have drawn upon and engaged the precepts and protocols of the information age to fashion an ‘info-nation'”
Interested in being NMCC’s next Prof Pick? Email us!
Over the past few years, makerspaces have emerged in many learning-focused settings, including museums and libraries, generating a surge of interest worldwide. People of all ages are putting their ideas into action by modeling, prototyping, iterating, and creating using a range of technologies and tools, such as 3D printing. The rise of these creative environments has also raised important questions around professional development, evaluation, sustainability, and institutional philosophies of making. This online session will introduce a framework for designing makerspaces and maker programs, allocating resources, and evaluating evidence of learning. As the panel shares promising practices, challenges, and opportunities, you will gain a better understanding of how the framework could be adapted in your setting.
Learning Objective 1: The participants will learn about the scope and nature of support that IMLS provides for making and learning in museums and libraries nationwide and how that aligns to their overall focus areas.
Learning Objective 2: The participants will understand the three components of the framework to support learning in museum and library makerspaces.
Learning Objective 3: The attendees will discern the link between the framework components and the learning that libraries and museums hope to create for participants.
With a hesitant beginning as a freshman double majoring in English and musical theater, my studies were initially motivated by a love of words and a desire to be the center of attention. I had cultivated many pieces of an academic persona over time and yet I had no idea how these fragments would come together to answer the age-old question: “What are you going to do with an English degree?” As my degree progressed I realized ways that I could integrate contemporary media into my studies and I began to see how my English degree had evolved from a love of literature into a tool capable of inciting social and political change. The pieces came together in a way that was both meaningful and cohesive.
My current research interests derive from the intersection of 20th/21st Century American film, feminist media studies, and cultural studies. My work seeks to reveal the ideological inculcations in contemporary visual texts, particularly those marketed towards young children, with the goal of understanding the ways in which systems of belief that result in the perpetuation of rape culture are reproduced within everyday images and social interactions, transmitting concealed moments of micro-aggressions and social injustices. My latest project makes a slight diversion from this objective and focuses instead on the relationship between material products (film) and industrial practices.
My latest essay “Monsters in the Closet: (Re)Negotiating Corporate Hegemony and The Death of Hand-Drawn Animation” enters at the nexus of the history of cinematic and Disney scholarship. My research focuses on the shift in the political economy of animation during the Disney and Pixar merge and I examine the 2001 Pixar film Monsters, Inc. as an allegory for the tenuous partnership between Disney and Pixar at various impasses during their twenty-year relationship. This allegory signals the political economy of animation and large-scale media corporations in the late 1990s to early 2000s as the medium shifted from hand drawn to computer generated imagery. It earns its significance by allowing us to not only examine how social conditions surface in material products but by also providing an avenue through which we can explore both the corporate hegemony that necessitated these contract negotiations, the Disney acquisition of Pixar, as well as the leadership that needed to shift for the acquisition to be possible, the promotion of Pixar leadership within the Disney Studios.
In my spare time I am an avid CrossFitter (which is why this photo is brought to you by athleisure)!
Discovery of NMCC:
As a film scholar, I encountered the New Media and Culture Certificate program during my media-related courses. This was a truly fortunate discovery because the addition of the New Media and Digital Culture Certificate has provided me the opportunity to expand my research past my comfort zone of film studies and enrich my knowledge of new media and emerging technologies. This quarter I am enrolled in a seminar where I have gotten to learn about the theory of games – and I even get to work with my group to create my own computer video game program!
Useful Resources for New Media Students:
I have recently found that reviewing non-academic publications can be an inspiring tool for inciting new, and innovative ideas. I think that these publications are often overlooked, but are rich with socio-political insight. Some of my favorite places to start include: The Atlantic, Slate, The Learned FanGirl, The New York Times, and Huffington Post. My interest in internet circulated media has increased exponentially as I begin to think through my next project which seeks to address the social function of fan-created adaptations.
Influential Reads:
Some of my favorite texts (books, articles, and documentaries) include –
Kline, Stephen. “The Making of Children’s Culture.” Out of the Garden: Toys, TV, and Children’s Culture in the Age of Marketing. London: Verso, 1993. Print.
The Pixar Story. Dir. Leslie Iwerks. Perf. Stacey Keach, John Lasseter, and Brad Bird. Leslie Iwerks Productions, 2007. Web.
I have set two major goals for myself to accomplish this year: 1) I want to achieve a more balanced, healthy lifestyle and 2) I want to submit my first essay for academic publication. I have been working diligently towards both of these goals by incorporating both strength enhancing and mind-body fitness programs into my daily routine and also meeting with advisors and peers who can help me refine my work.
In addition to these larger goals, I have also been submitting pitches to popular Internet magazines (such as Slate, The Atlantic, and The Learned FanGirl) to increase my participation in non-academic conversations about popular media. I will be spending the majority of my summer studying for breadth exams this coming fall!
What’s on your shelf? Interested in being NMCC’s next Shelfie feature? Email us!
All webinars will feature our new interface, Scalar 2. Our “Introduction to Scalar” webinars will cover basic features of the platform: a review of existing Scalar books and a hands-on introduction to paths, tags, annotations and importing media. Our “Intermediate Scalar” webinars will delve into more advanced topics including the effective use of visualizations, annotating with media and a primer on customizing appearances in Scalar. Our spring schedule will include four dates:
Introduction to Scalar: February 18, 10am-12pm (PST)
Intermediate Scalar: March 10, 10am-12pm (PST)
Introduction to Scalar: March 31, 4pm-6pm (PST)
Intermediate Scalar: April 21, 4pm-6pm (PST)
Scalar is a free, open source authoring and publishing platform that’s designed to make it easy for authors to write long-form, born-digital scholarship online. Scalar enables users to assemble media from multiple sources and juxtapose them with their own writing in a variety of ways, with minimal technical expertise required.
