This seminar, taught at Manhattanville College, explores trends toward multimedia presentation and the convergence of print, broadcast and online media, and how these have influenced journalistic and creative discourse from the late 1960’s to the present. We discuss changes in social, political, and personal communication caused by the media’s rapid evolution, and consider the rise of online investigative media and recent blogging culture. The role of convergence in corporate media’s shrinking number of players in the mainstream is a concern, as are alternative media as viable divergent voices in the media landscape.
While we will be exploring some of the technologies that influence non-mainstream thought, this is not a technical course. Rather, we will be exploring the relationship of thought and media through a theoretical perspective (some of the larger meanings that are forming through this media shift) and a practical perspective (how you can become, or remain, involved). A typical week will involve roughly equal time with both, which means about half the time will be devoted to lecture and discussion, and the other half will be a more hands-on workshop of developing divergent voices, including our own.
Convergent Media | Divergent Voices 