Media

In this talk, Dr. Mayer-Patel explores some of the barriers to media convergence and characterize when and why convergence can be successful and when and why convergence is likely to fail. In doing so, he articulates a new model for thinking about the future of multimedia which he calls "confederated media".

If a global humanity is emerging today by means of technological networks and their multiple correlates, the intelligence and agency exercised through such networks can seem to unsettle any number of categories and concepts that have long been taken to define both the "human" "subject" and the world of "objective" "nature."

Rita Raley is an Assistant Professor of English at UC Santa Barbara. She researches and teaches in the areas of the digital humanities and twentieth-century literature in an “international” or “global” context.

Miriam Metzger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at UC Santa Barbara her research includes studies of the credibility of information in the new media environment, problems of online privacy and security, the impact of media on public opinion, and the theoretical and regulatory changes brought about by the development of new media technologies.

Professor Emerita Francesca Bray's most recent work focuses everyday technologies and the Californian way of life. She examines the social and political relations and the cultural meanings embodied in such everyday artifacts as the flush toilet, the genetically-engineered tomato, and e-mail.

Stephen Pope's talk looks at how technology, culture, and the arts have been intimately intertwined for as long as there have been technology, culture, and arts. That being said, there are several aspects of modern technology and culture that have significant impacts on this relationship.

Professor Jennifer Earl, is a member of the Sociology Department and is current Director of CITS at UC Santa Barbara. Using the online strategic voting movement during the 2000 US Presidential Election as a case study, Professor Earl and her colleagues argue that the application of prior theory often overlooks the ways in which movements that emerge and thrive online function differently from conventional movements.

Dr. Beall's talk focuses on computer-mediated communication systems known as Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) which allow geographically separated individuals to interact verbally and nonverbally in a shared virtual space in real-time.

Dr. Richard Mayer is a professor in the Psychology department at UC Santa Barbara. Professor Mayer's research involves the intersection of cognition, instruction, and technology with a special focus on multimedia learning and problem solving.

Professor Bimber's research examines the relationship between evolving information technology and changes in human behavior, especially in the domains of political organization, collective action, social capital, and political deliberation.