The Official Newsletter for the Media Ecology Association

June 2021 Newsletter

The Twenty-Second Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association

To Be Held Virtually Via Zoom

Dystopic Futures – Media Ecology in an Algorithm Society

July 8–11, 2021

The 2021 MEA Annual Convention – “Dystopic Futures: Media Ecology in an Algorithm Society” – will be held virtually via Zoom, hosted by Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, July 8–11, 2021.

The MEA’s annual meeting provides an opportunity for a community of academics and professionals to exchange experiences and ideas in a friendly environment. The MEA convention addresses a wide array of topics in thematic sections, panels, and working groups that explore approaches from different fields of knowledge and social practices.

The theme of the 2021 convention “DYSTOPIC FUTURES: MEDIA ECOLOGY IN AN ALGORITHM SOCIETY” will be explored throughout the convention and through plenary and special sessions.

Nowadays we are living in a sort of dystopic present with undesirable and frightening realities. In addition to our natural, environmental, political, ethical, cultural, health, and social problems, we have to deal with issues brought by technological advances. We are living in a Technopoly (Postman, 1992), or in what some recent authors call an Algorithmic Society.

What kind of dystopia can we envisage as consequence of our dystopic present?

Featured speakers at the 2021 convention include Naomi Klein – activist, media critic, and author of No Logo (1999), The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (2007), and On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal (2019); Douglas Rushkoff – media theorist and author of the books Media Virus: Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture (1995), Coercion: Why We Listen What “They” Say (1999), and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus (2016); Muniz Sodré – journalist, sociologist, and author of the books Antropológica do Espelho (2009), Monopólio da Fala (2001), and O Império do Grotesco (2002); and David Olson – leading orality-literacy scholar and author of the books The Mind on Paper: Reading, Consciousness and Rationality (2016), Psychological Theory and Educational Reform: How Schools Remake Mind and Society (2003), and The World on Paper: The Conceptual and Cognitive Implications of Writing and Reading (1994), among others.

All plenary sessions will have the option of original audio in English and in Portuguese.

MEA Member Achievements

MEA board member Julia M. Hildebrand recently published an article about the value of adopting media ecology for critical robotics research. Titled " What is the message of the robot medium? Considering media ecology and mobilities in critical robotics research," the piece is featured in the journal AI & Society and available here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00146-021-01204-1 Hildebrand, J.M. What is the message of the robot medium? Considering media ecology and mobilities in critical robotics research. AI & Society (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01204-1

MEA member Bernadette Bowen's Media Ecology Oriented Newspaper Opinion piece titled "Six Questions for BGSU community consideration regarding guns on our campus" was recently published. You can read it here: https://www.bgfalconmedia.com/opinion/six-questions-for-bgsu-community-consideration-regarding-guns-on-our-campus/article_4edb2cdc-a468-11eb-b847-97c326b01245.htm

MEA @ NCA 2021

The Media Ecology Association
at the 107th Annual Convention of
The National Communication Association

Seattle, WA
November 18–21, 2021
“Renewal & Transformation”

MEA @ NCA Program Planner: Michael Plugh, mplugh01@manhattan.edu

Read more on the convention resources tab on NCA's website.

Call for Submissions for Explorations in Media Ecology Vol. 20

All articles submitted should be original work and must not be under consideration by other publications.

Explorations in Media Ecology, the journal of the Media Ecology Association, accepts submissions that extend our understanding of media (defined in the broadest possible terms), that apply media ecological approaches and/or that advance media ecology as a field of inquiry.

As an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary publication, EME welcomes contributions embracing diverse theoretical, philosophical and methodological approaches to the study of media and processes of mediation through language, symbols, codes, meaning and processes of signification, abstracting and perception; art, music, literature, aesthetics and poetics; form, pattern and method; materials, energy, information, technology and technique; mind, thought, emotion, consciousness, identity and behavior; groups, organizations, affiliations, communities; politics, economics, religion, science, education, business and the professions; societies and cultures; history and the future; contexts, situations, systems and environments; evolution and ecology; the human person, human affairs and the human condition; etc.

EME publishes peer-reviewed scholarly articles, essays, research reports, commentaries and critical examinations, and includes several special features. Our Pedagogy Section focuses on teaching strategies and resources, pedagogical concerns and issues relating to media ecology education; we are particularly interested in articles that share great ideas for teaching (GIFTs) media ecology in the classroom. The Probes Section features short items that are exploratory or provocative in nature. Creative writing on media ecological themes can be found in our Poetry Section. Questions and matters of concern to media ecology scholars are taken up in our Forum Section. And our Review Section includes individual book reviews and review essays.

EME is a refereed journal. Strict anonymity is accorded to both authors and referees. References and citations should follow the Harvard Referencing system, and the journal otherwise follows standard British English for spelling and punctuation.

Submissions can be uploaded online at: https://callisto.newgen.co/intellect/index.php/EME/submissions

Direct inquiries to

• Ernest A. Hakanen, Editor: eah22@drexel.edu

• Alexander Jenkins, Managing Editor: arj28@drexel.edu

• Gregory Loring-Albright, Editorial Assistant: gsa33@drexel.edu

• Corey Anton, Probes Editor: antonc@gvsu.edu

• Jeff Bogaczyk, Review Editor: jbogaczyk@gmail.com

• Adeena Karasick, Poetry Editor: adeenakarasick@cs.com

• Emanuela Patti, Forum Editor: empatti@gmail.com

• Michael Plugh, Pedagogy Editor: mplugh01@manhattan.edu

Call for Papers - EME's 20th Anniversary

Call for Papers: Invited special issue in celebration of EME’s 20th anniversary.

Issue: 20:4

We welcome contributions that celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Explorations in Media Ecology: The official Journal of the Media Ecology Association. Contributions can come in the form of analyses, essays, poetry, art, reviews, etc. Possible topics welcomed in the issue, but not limited to: Past and future trends in the journal or media ecology Discussion of influential articles, poetry, art, reviews Inspirational authors of the MEA Traditions kept alive by the journal and ME.

Please email contributions directly to EME's Editorial Assistant, Gregory Loring-Albright, at gsa33@drexel.edu

Working Group for Increasing Inclusivity

Following a special workshop in the 2020 MEA convention, organized by Carolin Aronis (University of Colorado, Boulder), Peggy Cassidy (Adelphi University), Rachel Armamentos (Fordham University), and Bernadette Ann Bowen (Bowling Green State University)—sixteen MEA members volunteered to become new members of this group. Three of them stepped forward to lead the group. The new group members include board members, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, all from different institutions and countries, and some are more new to the MEA while others are long standing members. 

Multiple issues to strengthen MEA and the Media Ecology as a field of study were identified through the convention session (thank you for all contributors!). 

Virtual Coffee with a Media Ecologist

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. 

Donate to MEA through AmazonSmile

When you order through AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice."

To use it, go to smile.amazon.com and sign in as you usually do. Directly under the search bar, you will find a pull-down for supported charities. Search for and select Media Ecology Association.

This message was sent to you by Media Ecology Association.
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe at any time

111 Front Street West, Suite 111, Toronto, Ontario M0 0L0 Canada
1-111-111-1111, {Organization_URL}