The Official Newsletter for the Media Ecology Association

Convention Special Edition

In preparation for our upcoming MEA Convention . . .

This special edition of the newsletter contains updates and reminders about the 24th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association taking place at Fordham University's Lincoln Center Campus between June 22-25, 2023.
Read on Learn More Details About:
Deadlines for Submitting Top Paper & Top Student Paper Manuscripts (April 28th, 2023)
Priority Registration Deadlines for Presenters to Guarantee Inclusion in the Conference Program (April 30th, 2023)

Details about Additional Charges and Dress code for the Banquet The Players Club at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 24th

Featured Keynote and Plenary Speaker Details, including Topics of Discussion and Publications

Travel Information and Hotel Rates for The Empire Hotel During the Conference
Contact Information for the Convention Planners

The Twenty-Fourth Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association

Fordham University
Lincoln Center Campus
New York City

June 22–25, 2023

Co-sponsored by the Institute of General Semantics, the New York Society for General Semantics, and the Urban Communication Foundation

The theme of the 2023 convention is “Arts/Symbol/Context/Meanings.” In this time of global pandemic, political breakdowns, environment devastation, and mass confusion, we look to the arts and artists: what do the arts have to teach us? Media Ecology has a long and honored connection to the arts. In abandoning established forms of academic expression, Marshall McLuhan was fond of quoting Ezra Pound’s dictum “the artist is the antennae of the race.” Philosopher Susanne Langer underscored the contributions of artists to human knowledge as those who put “feeling into form” in a way that speech is unable to do. Neil Postman and Christine Nystrom urged the centrality of context in understanding the meaning of symbols and insisted on humor and plain language to communicate some of the most penetrating and enduring ideas of media ecology. In short, the arts employ forms and symbols that shape our view of the world, give us tools for thought, and allow us to reshape, re-imagine and re-contextualize our world.

The annual meeting of the MEA provides an opportunity for our community of scholars, artists, educators, professionals and practitioners to exchange experiences and ideas in a friendly environment.

New York City, traditionally a stronghold and showcase of both the popular and fine arts, will be the context in which our discussion takes place. The home of the Bowery and Broadway, doo-wop and opera, wall graffiti and some of the finest art museums in the world, New York will provide the backdrop to our conversation about the arts, symbols, contexts and meanings.

Featured Speakers

Michael Schudson is a Professor of Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author of eleven books and co-editor of four others concerning the history and sociology of the American news media, advertising, popular culture, Watergate and cultural memory. His most recent books include The Rise of the Right to Know, Why Journalism Still Matters, and Journalism: Why It Matters.

Richard Sennett is a Senior Fellow at the Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University and serves as Senior Advisor to the United Nations on its Program on Climate Change and Cities. Dr. Sennett has studied social ties in cities, and the effects of urban living on individuals in the modern world. He is the author of The Uses of Disorder, The Fall of Public Man and several other books and articles.

Douglas Rushkoff, named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT, is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool. His book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.

Vera Dika holds a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from New York University and has taught at UCLA, USC, NYU and currently at New Jersey City University. Specializing in 1970s and 1980s mainstream and avant-garde film, Dika is the author of The (Moving) Pictures Generation: The Cinematic Impulse in Downtown New York Art and Film, Recycled Culture in Contemporary Art and Film: the Uses of Nostalgia, and Games of Terror: Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the Films of the Stalker Cycle.

Kipp Bradford is an inventor, entrepreneur, technology consultant, educator, author of Distributed Network Data (Hardware Hacking for Data Scientists), with Alasdair Allan, and the founder or cofounder of start-ups in the fields of transportation, consumer products, HVAC, and medical devices. Bradford is a major proponent of DIY culture and the Maker Movement.

Paper Awards

Every year at its annual convention, the MEA announces its awards. Authors who wish to be considered for the Top Paper or Top Student Paper award were instructed to indicate this on their submission(s). Authors must send the completed manuscript (see guidelines below) to the convention planners at mea2023convention@gmail.com by April 28, 2023.

Submission guidelines for manuscripts for authors who wish to be considered for the Top Paper or Top Student Paper award:

Manuscripts should be 4,000–6,000 words (approximately 15 to 25 double-spaced pages)
Include a cover page with your institutional affiliation and other contact information.
Include an abstract (maximum 150 words).

Travel Info

This year’s MEA convention will be held at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus. Fordham helpfully provides a list of nearby hotels.

In addition, the MEA has obtained discounted rates at the Empire Hotel, which is right across the street from Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus at 44 West 63rd Street. The rates are $269 for a standard and $299 for a superior room, not including taxes and fees. The rate applies for Sunday, June 18 to Sunday, June 25, with a limited block of rooms set aside. Click here to reserve a room.

The reason the MEA is offering discounted rates on rooms at the Empire Hotel starting on June 18 when our convention doesn’t start until June 22 is because the Institute of General Semantics — one of our affiliate organizations and co-sponsors — is running an in-person General Semantics Seminar from Monday, June 19 to Wednesday, June 21 at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. Those planning to attend the MEA’s convention are encouraged to attend. There is a $100 fee for IGS members, $150 for non-members. The seminar will be taught by Mary Lahman, Corey Anton, Mike Plugh, and Lance Strate. For more information and to register, click here.

Registration

Early registration prices are as follows:

Regular member: $100
Student member: $40
Non-member: $225
Non-member student: $50

Early registration prices are good until May 22, 2023. After that, regular member and student member registration costs will increase to $125 and $45, respectively. In order to ensure they’ll be included in the program, presenters should register by April 30.

For those planning to attend the banquet, there is a separate meal charge of $50. The banquet, co-sponsored by the Institute of General Semantics, will be at The Players club in New York starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 24 for wine and cheese.

Please note that The Players has a dress code:

Neat, business casual dress, with slacks or well-kept denim. Non-collared or t-shirts are permitted only with a sweater or sport coat. No workout attire, gym shoes, shorts, flip-flops, or hats on gentlemen other than religious head coverings. Event-specific dress, seasonal modifications, or other dress code changes will be announced to the membership. Outerwear and bags are checked at entry.

Convention registration entitles you to attend all convention panels, plenaries, and extra sessions including a conversation with Teri McLuhan and a special show on Friday evening by mentalist and media ecologist Marc Salem (aka Moshe Botwinick; New York Times profile).

Sustaining and Institutional members don’t have to pay for the convention, but they still must register for it above.

All convention participants and attendees are encouraged to join the MEA.

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Please email the convention planners at MEA2023Convention@gmail.com if you have any questions and stay tuned for more!

Are you interested in media ecology and have some questions about it? Are you working on a study related to media ecology and searching for advice? Are you an instructor looking for a media ecology expert to invite as a virtual guest speaker to one of your classes?

Get in touch with us! We are happy to schedule a “virtual coffee” appointment with you. Simply fill out the form below to set up a short call or virtual meeting with a scholar from the MEA.

The format is open to all. We especially encourage students and early-career scholars interested in media ecology to get in touch with us.

Do you have a background in media ecology and would like to volunteer for virtual coffee meetings with those looking to learn more about it? Send an email to Julia M. Hildebrand.

Arrange a Virtual Coffee appointment on our website.

Book Reviewers Wanted!

Have you read a good book with connections to Media Ecology? Please consider submitting a review for publication in Explorations in Media Ecology. Are you reading a new book for use in an upcoming class? Please consider submitting a review and helping out other scholars looking for new texts. Do you just like writing book reviews? Consider writing one for EME!! :) Contact jbogaczyk@gmail.com for more information and to get a format template. Reviews should be between 1000 and 2000 words.

Back Issues of EME

Pedagogy Sections Include Online Teaching

Access all back issues of Explorations in Media Ecology in the Members Area on the MEA website. These back issues include pedagogy sections that contain information about teaching, including teaching online.

MEA Membership Renewal Reminder

It is not too late to renew your membership by paying your dues. Please log into the website at www.media-ecology.org, and then log in using your email ID and password and follow the directions. You may pay online via PayPal or pay by check made payable to the Media Ecology Association and mailed to our treasurer, Paul Soukup, S.J., at the Communication Department; Santa Clara University; 500 El Camino Real; Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA. For those outside the U.S., you may also pay by Western Union money order sent to psoukup@scu.edu. If you wish to change your membership, please drop Paul Soukup a note.

*Please note: The Media Ecology Association Executive Board decided that the newsletter will be available online to all interested readers. However, only members can be featured in the newsletter itself. If you are a MEA member, please fill out this form (include a call to submit material+ link).

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