Edward A. Shanken writes and teaches about the entwinement of art, science, and technology with a focus on interdisciplinary practices involving new media. He is a researcher at the University of Amsterdam and a member of the Media Art History faculty at the Donau University in Krems, Austria. He was formerly Executive Director of the Information Science + Information Studies program at Duke University, and Professor of Art History and Media Theory at Savannah College of Art and Design. Recent and forthcoming publications include essays on art and technology in the 1960s, information aesthetics, interactivity and agency, and the cultural implications of cybernetics, robotics, and biotechnology. He edited Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology and Consciousness (University of California Press, 2003). His second book, Art and Electronic Media was published by Phaidon Press in 2009. Full CV available on my website.
BIO
ART BASEL - Contemporary Art and New Media: Toward a Hybrid Discourse
Dates:
Sat Jun 19, 2010 00:00 - Thu Jun 10, 2010
Location:
Switzerland
Curator Nicolas Bourriaud, ZKM CEO Peter Weibel, and artist Michael Joaquin Grey will address the topic, "Contemporary Art and New Media: Toward a Hybrid Discourse?" at Art Basel on Saturday 19, June, 1-1:30 pm. The discussion is being convened and moderated by Edward A. Shanken.
Contemporary Art and New Media: Toward a Hybrid Discourse?
Since the mid-1990s, new media has become an important force for creative culture and economic development. Supporting institutions including Ars Electronica, ZKM and Eyebeam have expanded, while interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs at the intersections of art, science, and technology have proliferated internationally. Simultaneously, mainstream contemporary art experienced dramatic growth, propelled by the proliferation of venues from Art Basel Miami to the Shanghai Biennial and by the creativity of artists, curators, dealers and pedagogues. Yet rarely do these two artworlds meet. As a result, their discourses have increasingly diverged. To what extent are new media art and mainstream contemporary art commensurable? Is it possible to construct a hybrid discourse that offers insights into each, while enabling greater mixing between them? What roles have educational programs and cultural institutions played in fostering these divides and how can they contribute to suturing them? What insights into larger questions of emerging art and cultural forms might be gleaned by such a rapprochement?
Contemporary Art and New Media: Toward a Hybrid Discourse?
Since the mid-1990s, new media has become an important force for creative culture and economic development. Supporting institutions including Ars Electronica, ZKM and Eyebeam have expanded, while interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs at the intersections of art, science, and technology have proliferated internationally. Simultaneously, mainstream contemporary art experienced dramatic growth, propelled by the proliferation of venues from Art Basel Miami to the Shanghai Biennial and by the creativity of artists, curators, dealers and pedagogues. Yet rarely do these two artworlds meet. As a result, their discourses have increasingly diverged. To what extent are new media art and mainstream contemporary art commensurable? Is it possible to construct a hybrid discourse that offers insights into each, while enabling greater mixing between them? What roles have educational programs and cultural institutions played in fostering these divides and how can they contribute to suturing them? What insights into larger questions of emerging art and cultural forms might be gleaned by such a rapprochement?
New Media, Art-Science, and Mainstream Contemporary Art: Toward a Hybrid Discourse?
Deadline:
Mon May 03, 2010 00:00
2011 Call for Participation:
New Media, Art-Science, and Mainstream Contemporary Art: Toward a Hybrid Discourse?
Chair: Edward A. Shanken,
Leonardo Education and Art Forum (LEAF) Special Session
CAA 99th Annual Conference
New York, NY, February 9-12, 2011
PROPOSALS FOR PAPERS TO SESSION CHAIR, Due May 3, 2010
(Note: open only to members of the Leonardo Education and Art Forum (LEAF) or College Art Association)
Since the mid-1990s, new media has become an important force for economic and cultural development, establishing its own institutions, such as the ZKM, Ars Electronic Center, and Eyebeam. Research at the intersections of art, science, and technology also has gained esteem and institutional support, as demonstrated by the Artists in Labs program (Switzerland) and the proliferation of interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs around the world. During the same period, mainstream contemporary art experienced dramatic growth in its market and popularity, propelled by economic prosperity and the proliferation of international museums, art fairs and exhibitions from the Tate Modern to Art Basel Miami to the Shanghai Biennial. This dynamic environment has nurtured tremendous creativity and invention by artists, curators, theorists and pedagogues in all branches. Yet rarely does the mainstream artworld converge with the new media and art-sci artworlds. As a result, their discourses have become increasingly divergent.
Contemporary art practice and writing are remarkably rich but often lack understanding of science or technology and the interdisciplinary artistic practices and critical discourses that are co-extensive with them. Art-science and new media art offer valuable insights into the implications of science and technology and expand the possibilities of art. However, these discourses often display an impoverished understanding of aesthetic and theoretical developments in contemporary art, resulting in work that fails to resonate in that context.
This LEAF-sponsored session at CAA shall interrogate the extent to which the discourses of art-science, new media art and mainstream contemporary art are commensurable. Is it possible to construct a hybrid discourse that offers nuanced insights into each, while laying a foundation for greater mixing between them? What role have educational programs played in fostering these divides and how can they contribute to dissolving them? What insights into larger questions of emerging art and cultural forms might be gleaned by such a rapprochement?
Every proposal should include the following six items:
1. Completed session participation proposal form, located at the end of linked .pdf.
2. Preliminary abstract of one to two double-spaced, typed pages.
3. Letter explaining speaker’s interest, expertise in the topic, and CAA/LEAF membership status.
4. CV with home and office mailing addresses, email address, and phone and fax numbers. Include summer address and telephone number, if applicable.
5. Documentation of work when appropriate, especially for sessions in which artists might discuss their own work.
6. If mailing internationally, it is recommended that proposals be sent via certified mail or via email.
Follow this link to .pdf of CAA CFP for more details:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yktzdpd
Edward Shanken
Universitair Docent, New Media
Turfdraagsterpad 9
University of Amsterdam
1012XT Amsterdam, NL
http://artexetra.com
New Media, Art-Science, and Mainstream Contemporary Art: Toward a Hybrid Discourse?
Chair: Edward A. Shanken,
Leonardo Education and Art Forum (LEAF) Special Session
CAA 99th Annual Conference
New York, NY, February 9-12, 2011
PROPOSALS FOR PAPERS TO SESSION CHAIR, Due May 3, 2010
(Note: open only to members of the Leonardo Education and Art Forum (LEAF) or College Art Association)
Since the mid-1990s, new media has become an important force for economic and cultural development, establishing its own institutions, such as the ZKM, Ars Electronic Center, and Eyebeam. Research at the intersections of art, science, and technology also has gained esteem and institutional support, as demonstrated by the Artists in Labs program (Switzerland) and the proliferation of interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs around the world. During the same period, mainstream contemporary art experienced dramatic growth in its market and popularity, propelled by economic prosperity and the proliferation of international museums, art fairs and exhibitions from the Tate Modern to Art Basel Miami to the Shanghai Biennial. This dynamic environment has nurtured tremendous creativity and invention by artists, curators, theorists and pedagogues in all branches. Yet rarely does the mainstream artworld converge with the new media and art-sci artworlds. As a result, their discourses have become increasingly divergent.
Contemporary art practice and writing are remarkably rich but often lack understanding of science or technology and the interdisciplinary artistic practices and critical discourses that are co-extensive with them. Art-science and new media art offer valuable insights into the implications of science and technology and expand the possibilities of art. However, these discourses often display an impoverished understanding of aesthetic and theoretical developments in contemporary art, resulting in work that fails to resonate in that context.
This LEAF-sponsored session at CAA shall interrogate the extent to which the discourses of art-science, new media art and mainstream contemporary art are commensurable. Is it possible to construct a hybrid discourse that offers nuanced insights into each, while laying a foundation for greater mixing between them? What role have educational programs played in fostering these divides and how can they contribute to dissolving them? What insights into larger questions of emerging art and cultural forms might be gleaned by such a rapprochement?
Every proposal should include the following six items:
1. Completed session participation proposal form, located at the end of linked .pdf.
2. Preliminary abstract of one to two double-spaced, typed pages.
3. Letter explaining speaker’s interest, expertise in the topic, and CAA/LEAF membership status.
4. CV with home and office mailing addresses, email address, and phone and fax numbers. Include summer address and telephone number, if applicable.
5. Documentation of work when appropriate, especially for sessions in which artists might discuss their own work.
6. If mailing internationally, it is recommended that proposals be sent via certified mail or via email.
Follow this link to .pdf of CAA CFP for more details:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yktzdpd
Edward Shanken
Universitair Docent, New Media
Turfdraagsterpad 9
University of Amsterdam
1012XT Amsterdam, NL
http://artexetra.com
Cubinator
Dates:
Sat Apr 17, 2010 00:00 - Tue Apr 13, 2010
Sarah Moore and Marta Colpani present Cubinator, live on the Internet and on location in Amsterdam.
The actual performance will be available on the Cubinator website on the 17th of April at 19:00 (Amsterdam time). We will be live for 24 hours on this webpage, and we will be building a paper structure for you. Every brick that you ask us to build will be only yours, and will be marked with the exact time of your submission.
You are kindly invited to participate!
Cubinator is a course project for Scopic Regimes of Virtuality, New Media MA program, University of Amsterdam.
http://www.scopicregimesvirtuality.worpress.com
New Media MA Blog: http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/
The actual performance will be available on the Cubinator website on the 17th of April at 19:00 (Amsterdam time). We will be live for 24 hours on this webpage, and we will be building a paper structure for you. Every brick that you ask us to build will be only yours, and will be marked with the exact time of your submission.
You are kindly invited to participate!
Cubinator is a course project for Scopic Regimes of Virtuality, New Media MA program, University of Amsterdam.
http://www.scopicregimesvirtuality.worpress.com
New Media MA Blog: http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/
New Media MA, University of Amsterdam - Final Call
Deadline:
Thu Apr 01, 2010 00:00
Overview
The International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture (NMMA) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is accepting applications for 2010-2011 academic year. The NMMA is a one-year residence program undertaken in English at UvA in the heart of Amsterdam. Students become actively engaged in critical Internet culture, with an emphasis on new media theory and aesthetics, including theoretical materialist traditions and practical information visualization trends. Our permanent faculty are recognized experts in their fields, who are committed to their students. The program admits approximately forty students per year, classes are no larger than 20 and often smaller, and the faculty-to-student ratio is 1:8.
Curriculum and Academics
1st Semester: students follow a course in academic blogging, led by critical Internet theorist and tactical media practitioner Geert Lovink. Their entries form the internationally noted Masters of Media site, http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/, regarded as a top blog for new media research and nominated for a Dutch blog award for best education blog. The concurrent new media theories course focuses on classic texts by innovators from Alan Turing to Tim Berners-Lee. The final first semester class, Digital Methods, given by the program Chair, Richard Rogers, trains students in novel techniques for Internet research, http://www.digitalmethods.net/.
2nd Semester: the student chooses between courses on digital aesthetics, new media politics or information visualization. The digital aesthetics course is theoretically inclined in the traditions of art history and visual culture, and the new media politics class is concerned with the transformations the Internet is bringing to politics. Information visualization is a joint theoretical-practical collaboration between designers, programmers and analysts, where the product is an online tool, digital visualization or interactive graphic. The course of study concludes with the M.A. thesis, an original analysis that makes a contribution to the field, undertaken with the close mentorship of a faculty supervisor.
The graduation ceremony includes an international symposium with renowned speakers. Graduates of the NMMA have gained an analytical and practical skill-set that enables diverse careers in research and practice-related areas that make use of the Internet, including business, government, NGOs, and creative industries that are evolving with emerging new media. Our graduates include Lotte Meijer, winner of a Webby award, and Eva Kol, whose MA thesis, Hyves, was published by Kosmos in 2008 and sold over 5000 copies its first year in print.
Student Life
The quality-of-living in Amsterdam ranks among the highest of international capitals. UvA’s competitive tuition (see below) and the ubiquity of spoken English both on and off-campus make the program especially accommodating for foreign students. The city’s many venues, festivals, and other events provide remarkably rich cultural offerings and displays of technological innovation. The program has ties to organizations including PICNIC, the Waag Society, Institute for Network Cultures, Virtueel Platform, Netherlands Institute for Media Art, govcom.org, and other cultural institutions, where internship opportunities may be available, in consultation with the student’s thesis supervisor. Students attend and blog, twitter or otherwise capture local new media events and festivals, while commenting as well on larger international issues and trends pertaining to new media. The quality of student life is equally to be found in the university’s lively and varied intellectual climate. NMMA students come from North and South America, Africa, Asia and across Europe and from academic and professional backgrounds including journalism, art and design, engineering, the humanities and social sciences.
Faculty
Richard Rogers, Professor and Chair. Web epistemology, Digital methods. Publications include Information Politics on the Web (MIT Press, 2004/2005), awarded American Society for Information Science and Technology’s 2005 Best Information Science Book of the Year Award, and the End of the Virtual (U Amsterdam P, 2009). Founding director of govcom.org. http://www.govcom.org/.
Geert Lovink, Associate Professor. Critical Internet theory, Tactical Media. Publications include Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture (Routledge, 2007). Co-founder nettime listserve (1995 - present); founder, Institute of Network Cultures, 2004. http://www.networkcultures.org/.
Jan Simons, Associate Professor. Mobile Culture, Gaming, Film Theory. Publications include Playing The Waves: Lars von Trier's Game Cinema (U Amsterdam P, 2007). Project Director, Mobile Learning Game Kit, Senior Member, Digital Games research group. http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/j.a.a.simons/
Yuri Engelhardt, Assistant Professor. Computer modeling and information visualization. Publications include The Language of Graphics (2002); founder and moderator of InfoDesign (1995-9); codeveloper of Future Planet Studies at UvA. http://www.yuriweb.com/
Edward Shanken, Assistant Professor. Digital aesthetics, visual culture. Publications include Art and Electronic Media (Phaidon, 2009) and Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology and Consciousness (U Cal P, 2003). http://artexetra.com
Thomas Poell, Assistant Professor. New media politics. In 2007 he defended his PhD-dissertation on the democratization and centralization of the Dutch state during the revolutionary period around 1800. http://nl.linkedin.com/in/thomaspoell
Application & Deadlines
1 January 2010 for “early bird” candidates for Fall 2010. Early bird candidates notified on 1 February. General deadline: 1 April for Fall 2010. Applicants will be notified around 15 June. Applications received after 1 April may be considered if places are available. See http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma-nieuwe-media/ for details.
More Info & Questions
• International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture - University of Amsterdam, http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma\_new\_media/
• Graduate School for Humanities General Information, http://www.hum.uva.nl/gs/actueel.cfm • Further general questions? Please write to UvA’s Graduate School of the Humanities, graduateschool-fgw “at” uva.nl.
• Specific questions about curriculum and student life? Please write to Richard Rogers, Chair in New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam, rogers “at” uva.nl.
The International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture (NMMA) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is accepting applications for 2010-2011 academic year. The NMMA is a one-year residence program undertaken in English at UvA in the heart of Amsterdam. Students become actively engaged in critical Internet culture, with an emphasis on new media theory and aesthetics, including theoretical materialist traditions and practical information visualization trends. Our permanent faculty are recognized experts in their fields, who are committed to their students. The program admits approximately forty students per year, classes are no larger than 20 and often smaller, and the faculty-to-student ratio is 1:8.
Curriculum and Academics
1st Semester: students follow a course in academic blogging, led by critical Internet theorist and tactical media practitioner Geert Lovink. Their entries form the internationally noted Masters of Media site, http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/, regarded as a top blog for new media research and nominated for a Dutch blog award for best education blog. The concurrent new media theories course focuses on classic texts by innovators from Alan Turing to Tim Berners-Lee. The final first semester class, Digital Methods, given by the program Chair, Richard Rogers, trains students in novel techniques for Internet research, http://www.digitalmethods.net/.
2nd Semester: the student chooses between courses on digital aesthetics, new media politics or information visualization. The digital aesthetics course is theoretically inclined in the traditions of art history and visual culture, and the new media politics class is concerned with the transformations the Internet is bringing to politics. Information visualization is a joint theoretical-practical collaboration between designers, programmers and analysts, where the product is an online tool, digital visualization or interactive graphic. The course of study concludes with the M.A. thesis, an original analysis that makes a contribution to the field, undertaken with the close mentorship of a faculty supervisor.
The graduation ceremony includes an international symposium with renowned speakers. Graduates of the NMMA have gained an analytical and practical skill-set that enables diverse careers in research and practice-related areas that make use of the Internet, including business, government, NGOs, and creative industries that are evolving with emerging new media. Our graduates include Lotte Meijer, winner of a Webby award, and Eva Kol, whose MA thesis, Hyves, was published by Kosmos in 2008 and sold over 5000 copies its first year in print.
Student Life
The quality-of-living in Amsterdam ranks among the highest of international capitals. UvA’s competitive tuition (see below) and the ubiquity of spoken English both on and off-campus make the program especially accommodating for foreign students. The city’s many venues, festivals, and other events provide remarkably rich cultural offerings and displays of technological innovation. The program has ties to organizations including PICNIC, the Waag Society, Institute for Network Cultures, Virtueel Platform, Netherlands Institute for Media Art, govcom.org, and other cultural institutions, where internship opportunities may be available, in consultation with the student’s thesis supervisor. Students attend and blog, twitter or otherwise capture local new media events and festivals, while commenting as well on larger international issues and trends pertaining to new media. The quality of student life is equally to be found in the university’s lively and varied intellectual climate. NMMA students come from North and South America, Africa, Asia and across Europe and from academic and professional backgrounds including journalism, art and design, engineering, the humanities and social sciences.
Faculty
Richard Rogers, Professor and Chair. Web epistemology, Digital methods. Publications include Information Politics on the Web (MIT Press, 2004/2005), awarded American Society for Information Science and Technology’s 2005 Best Information Science Book of the Year Award, and the End of the Virtual (U Amsterdam P, 2009). Founding director of govcom.org. http://www.govcom.org/.
Geert Lovink, Associate Professor. Critical Internet theory, Tactical Media. Publications include Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture (Routledge, 2007). Co-founder nettime listserve (1995 - present); founder, Institute of Network Cultures, 2004. http://www.networkcultures.org/.
Jan Simons, Associate Professor. Mobile Culture, Gaming, Film Theory. Publications include Playing The Waves: Lars von Trier's Game Cinema (U Amsterdam P, 2007). Project Director, Mobile Learning Game Kit, Senior Member, Digital Games research group. http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/j.a.a.simons/
Yuri Engelhardt, Assistant Professor. Computer modeling and information visualization. Publications include The Language of Graphics (2002); founder and moderator of InfoDesign (1995-9); codeveloper of Future Planet Studies at UvA. http://www.yuriweb.com/
Edward Shanken, Assistant Professor. Digital aesthetics, visual culture. Publications include Art and Electronic Media (Phaidon, 2009) and Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology and Consciousness (U Cal P, 2003). http://artexetra.com
Thomas Poell, Assistant Professor. New media politics. In 2007 he defended his PhD-dissertation on the democratization and centralization of the Dutch state during the revolutionary period around 1800. http://nl.linkedin.com/in/thomaspoell
Application & Deadlines
1 January 2010 for “early bird” candidates for Fall 2010. Early bird candidates notified on 1 February. General deadline: 1 April for Fall 2010. Applicants will be notified around 15 June. Applications received after 1 April may be considered if places are available. See http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma-nieuwe-media/ for details.
More Info & Questions
• International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture - University of Amsterdam, http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma\_new\_media/
• Graduate School for Humanities General Information, http://www.hum.uva.nl/gs/actueel.cfm • Further general questions? Please write to UvA’s Graduate School of the Humanities, graduateschool-fgw “at” uva.nl.
• Specific questions about curriculum and student life? Please write to Richard Rogers, Chair in New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam, rogers “at” uva.nl.
New Media MA, University of Amsterdam
Deadline:
Thu Apr 01, 2010 00:00
Overview
The International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture (NMMA) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is accepting applications for 2010-2011 academic year. The NMMA is a one-year residence program undertaken in English at UvA in the heart of Amsterdam. Students become actively engaged in critical Internet culture, with an emphasis on new media theory and aesthetics, including theoretical materialist traditions and practical information visualization trends. Our permanent faculty are recognized experts in their fields, who are committed to their students. The program admits approximately forty students per year, classes are no larger than 20 and often smaller, and the faculty-to-student ratio is 1:8.
Curriculum and Academics
1st Semester: students follow a course in academic blogging, led by critical Internet theorist and tactical media practitioner Geert Lovink. Their entries form the internationally noted Masters of Media site, http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/, regarded as a top blog for new media research and nominated for a Dutch blog award for best education blog. The concurrent new media theories course focuses on classic texts by innovators from Alvin Turing to Tim Berners-Lee. The final first semester class, Digital Methods, given by the program Chair, Richard Rogers, trains students in novel techniques for Internet research, http://www.digitalmethods.net/.
2nd Semester: the student chooses between courses on digital aesthetics, new media politics or information visualization. The digital aesthetics course is theoretically inclined in the traditions of art history and visual culture, and the new media politics class is concerned with the transformations the Internet is bringing to politics. Information visualization is a joint theoretical-practical collaboration between designers, programmers and analysts, where the product is an online tool, digital visualization or interactive graphic. The course of study concludes with the M.A. thesis, an original analysis that makes a contribution to the field, undertaken with the close mentorship of a faculty supervisor.
The graduation ceremony includes an international symposium with renowned speakers. Graduates of the NMMA have gained an analytical and practical skill-set that enables diverse careers in research and practice-related areas that make use of the Internet, including business, government, NGOs, and creative industries that are evolving with emerging new media. Our graduates include Lotte Meijer, winner of a Webby award, and Eva Kol, whose MA thesis, Hyves, was published by Kosmos in 2008 and sold over 5000 copies its first year in print.
Student Life
The quality-of-living in Amsterdam ranks among the highest of international capitals. UvA’s competitive tuition (see below) and the ubiquity of spoken English both on and off-campus make the program especially accommodating for foreign students. The city’s many venues, festivals, and other events provide remarkably rich cultural offerings and displays of technological innovation. The program has ties to organizations including PICNIC, the Waag Society, Institute for Network Cultures, Virtueel Platform, Netherlands Institute for Media Art, govcom.org, and other cultural institutions, where internship opportunities may be available, in consultation with the student’s thesis supervisor. Students attend and blog, twitter or otherwise capture local new media events and festivals, while commenting as well on larger international issues and trends pertaining to new media. The quality of student life is equally to be found in the university’s lively and varied intellectual climate. NMMA students come from North and South America, Africa, Asia and across Europe and from academic and professional backgrounds including journalism, art and design, engineering, the humanities and social sciences.
Faculty
Richard Rogers, Professor and Chair. Web epistemology, Digital methods. Publications include Information Politics on the Web (MIT Press, 2004/2005), awarded American Society for Information Science and Technology’s 2005 Best Information Science Book of the Year Award, and the End of the Virtual (U Amsterdam P, 2009). Founding director of govcom.org. http://www.govcom.org/.
Geert Lovink, Associate Professor. Critical Internet theory, Tactical Media. Publications include Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture (Routledge, 2007). Co-founder nettime listserve (1995 - present); founder, Institute of Network Cultures, 2004. http://www.networkcultures.org/.
Jan Simons, Associate Professor. Mobile Culture, Gaming, Film Theory. Publications include Playing The Waves: Lars von Trier's Game Cinema (U Amsterdam P, 2007). Project Director, Mobile Learning Game Kit, Senior Member, Digital Games research group. http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/j.a.a.simons/
Yuri Engelhardt, Assistant Professor. Computer modeling and information visualization. Publications include The Language of Graphics (2002); founder and moderator of InfoDesign (1995-9); codeveloper of Future Planet Studies at UvA. http://www.yuriweb.com/
Edward Shanken, Assistant Professor. Digital aesthetics, visual culture. Publications include Art and Electronic Media (Phaidon, 2009) and Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology and Consciousness (U Cal P, 2003). http://artexetra.com
Thomas Poell, Assistant Professor. New media politics. In 2007 he defended his PhD-dissertation on the democratization and centralization of the Dutch state during the revolutionary period around 1800. http://nl.linkedin.com/in/thomaspoell
Application & Deadlines
1 January 2010 for “early bird” candidates for Fall 2010. Early bird candidates notified on 1 February. General deadline: 1 April for Fall 2010. Applicants will be notified around 15 June. Applications received after 1 April may be considered if places are available. See http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma-nieuwe-media/ for details.
More Info & Questions
• International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture - University of Amsterdam, http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma\_new\_media/
• Graduate School for Humanities General Information, http://www.hum.uva.nl/gs/actueel.cfm • Further general questions? Please write to UvA’s Graduate School of the Humanities, graduateschool-fgw “at” uva.nl.
• Specific questions about curriculum and student life? Please write to Richard Rogers, Chair in New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam, rogers “at” uva.nl.
The International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture (NMMA) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is accepting applications for 2010-2011 academic year. The NMMA is a one-year residence program undertaken in English at UvA in the heart of Amsterdam. Students become actively engaged in critical Internet culture, with an emphasis on new media theory and aesthetics, including theoretical materialist traditions and practical information visualization trends. Our permanent faculty are recognized experts in their fields, who are committed to their students. The program admits approximately forty students per year, classes are no larger than 20 and often smaller, and the faculty-to-student ratio is 1:8.
Curriculum and Academics
1st Semester: students follow a course in academic blogging, led by critical Internet theorist and tactical media practitioner Geert Lovink. Their entries form the internationally noted Masters of Media site, http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/, regarded as a top blog for new media research and nominated for a Dutch blog award for best education blog. The concurrent new media theories course focuses on classic texts by innovators from Alvin Turing to Tim Berners-Lee. The final first semester class, Digital Methods, given by the program Chair, Richard Rogers, trains students in novel techniques for Internet research, http://www.digitalmethods.net/.
2nd Semester: the student chooses between courses on digital aesthetics, new media politics or information visualization. The digital aesthetics course is theoretically inclined in the traditions of art history and visual culture, and the new media politics class is concerned with the transformations the Internet is bringing to politics. Information visualization is a joint theoretical-practical collaboration between designers, programmers and analysts, where the product is an online tool, digital visualization or interactive graphic. The course of study concludes with the M.A. thesis, an original analysis that makes a contribution to the field, undertaken with the close mentorship of a faculty supervisor.
The graduation ceremony includes an international symposium with renowned speakers. Graduates of the NMMA have gained an analytical and practical skill-set that enables diverse careers in research and practice-related areas that make use of the Internet, including business, government, NGOs, and creative industries that are evolving with emerging new media. Our graduates include Lotte Meijer, winner of a Webby award, and Eva Kol, whose MA thesis, Hyves, was published by Kosmos in 2008 and sold over 5000 copies its first year in print.
Student Life
The quality-of-living in Amsterdam ranks among the highest of international capitals. UvA’s competitive tuition (see below) and the ubiquity of spoken English both on and off-campus make the program especially accommodating for foreign students. The city’s many venues, festivals, and other events provide remarkably rich cultural offerings and displays of technological innovation. The program has ties to organizations including PICNIC, the Waag Society, Institute for Network Cultures, Virtueel Platform, Netherlands Institute for Media Art, govcom.org, and other cultural institutions, where internship opportunities may be available, in consultation with the student’s thesis supervisor. Students attend and blog, twitter or otherwise capture local new media events and festivals, while commenting as well on larger international issues and trends pertaining to new media. The quality of student life is equally to be found in the university’s lively and varied intellectual climate. NMMA students come from North and South America, Africa, Asia and across Europe and from academic and professional backgrounds including journalism, art and design, engineering, the humanities and social sciences.
Faculty
Richard Rogers, Professor and Chair. Web epistemology, Digital methods. Publications include Information Politics on the Web (MIT Press, 2004/2005), awarded American Society for Information Science and Technology’s 2005 Best Information Science Book of the Year Award, and the End of the Virtual (U Amsterdam P, 2009). Founding director of govcom.org. http://www.govcom.org/.
Geert Lovink, Associate Professor. Critical Internet theory, Tactical Media. Publications include Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture (Routledge, 2007). Co-founder nettime listserve (1995 - present); founder, Institute of Network Cultures, 2004. http://www.networkcultures.org/.
Jan Simons, Associate Professor. Mobile Culture, Gaming, Film Theory. Publications include Playing The Waves: Lars von Trier's Game Cinema (U Amsterdam P, 2007). Project Director, Mobile Learning Game Kit, Senior Member, Digital Games research group. http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/j.a.a.simons/
Yuri Engelhardt, Assistant Professor. Computer modeling and information visualization. Publications include The Language of Graphics (2002); founder and moderator of InfoDesign (1995-9); codeveloper of Future Planet Studies at UvA. http://www.yuriweb.com/
Edward Shanken, Assistant Professor. Digital aesthetics, visual culture. Publications include Art and Electronic Media (Phaidon, 2009) and Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology and Consciousness (U Cal P, 2003). http://artexetra.com
Thomas Poell, Assistant Professor. New media politics. In 2007 he defended his PhD-dissertation on the democratization and centralization of the Dutch state during the revolutionary period around 1800. http://nl.linkedin.com/in/thomaspoell
Application & Deadlines
1 January 2010 for “early bird” candidates for Fall 2010. Early bird candidates notified on 1 February. General deadline: 1 April for Fall 2010. Applicants will be notified around 15 June. Applications received after 1 April may be considered if places are available. See http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma-nieuwe-media/ for details.
More Info & Questions
• International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture - University of Amsterdam, http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma\_new\_media/
• Graduate School for Humanities General Information, http://www.hum.uva.nl/gs/actueel.cfm • Further general questions? Please write to UvA’s Graduate School of the Humanities, graduateschool-fgw “at” uva.nl.
• Specific questions about curriculum and student life? Please write to Richard Rogers, Chair in New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam, rogers “at” uva.nl.
